Canada and its closest allies are eyeing restraints on prepaid currency cards and looking at even greater intelligence sharing as a means of combating transnational organized crime, newly disclosed documents show.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson floated the proposals during a June meeting of justice ministers from Canada, the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
The popular prepaid cards offered by retailers are a convenient form of currency for consumers, but organized criminals have taken advantage of the fact many can be used around the world to "smuggle and launder proceeds of crime," says a briefing note for the meeting.
Police in the allied countries have "limited powers" to deal with the exploitation and abuse of prepaid cards.
"The most significant limitation is that prepaid cards cannot be seized by law enforcement or border officials in member countries, as these cards are not defined as monetary instruments in any anti-money laundering legislation."
Paulson attended the meeting in his role as 2012 chairman of the little-known Strategic Alliance Group, which comprises federal law enforcement officials from the five countries to jointly tackle organized crime.
The strategic alliance's working group on proceeds of crime has also identified "specialist money launderers" who control, direct and manage illicit movement of funds through money service businesses, as well as other informal exchange systems that exist around the world, says the note.
The working group is looking into specialists from several "jurisdictions of risk" including the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan and China.
Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stod-dart has expressed concern about proposals to give the federal anti-money laundering agency broader powers to scrutinize electronic funds transfers entering or leaving Canada. That would mean examining large numbers of harmless transactions, such as money transferred by parents to children abroad.
She has also taken issue with proposals to collect more information about people who purchase prepaid gift cards and to allow the anti-laundering agency to increase sharing with law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The briefing note prepared for Paulson's presentation, however, says exchanging information and criminal intelligence is becoming a key element of strategies to fight organized crime.
Information exchanges with international partners has been a sensitive issue since faulty data provided by the RCMP was likely to blame for the U.S. sending Ottawa engineer Maher Arar to Syria, where he was tortured over false terrorism suspicions. More recently, Canada was embarrassed when naval intelligence officer Jeffrey Paul Delisle sold secrets - including material from the allies - to Russia.
