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- Lo Furneaux
The Role of Digital Asset Recovery in Jamaica’s Proceeds of Crime Act
After the island of Jamaica became one of the first countries in the world to issue cryptocurrency tokens as legal tender, Asset Reality was appointed as the country’s asset manager by the Jamaican authorities. The island’s law enforcement agencies are also one of the first international jurisdictions to use our new Asset Recovery Management System (ARMS) Platform.
Our SaaS-based ARMS platform has allowed Jamaican police officers, public prosecutors and investigating judges to track and audit their portfolio of seized assets alongside the wide variety of resolution tools needed to investigate crypto-related crimes on the island.
Thanks to this appointment, several members of the Asset Reality team were invited back to the island of Jamaica for a conference organised by the Financial Investigations Division, Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. The two-day event at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel focused on widening the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) through collaboration.
Our co-founder & CEO Aidan Larkin was also invited to give a presentation on the role of cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital assets in financial crime. He discussed the basics of digital asset recovery, how they can be used by criminals and the current challenges faced by law enforcement agencies when trying to investigate, manage or store this new asset class.
After explaining the lack of traditional geographic borders in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Aidan encouraged those present to ignore the historic barriers between the public and private sectors and share their collective knowledge, experience and best practices for increasing the effectiveness of asset recovery around the world, particularly when dealing with complex virtual assets like cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital assets.
Aidan was delighted to have been invited back to Jamaica to discuss Asset Reality’s work to improve digital asset recovery with such a diverse range of experts:
“Crypto asset recovery gives us the blueprint to properly disrupt illicit financial activity for the benefit of governments, victims and wider society. We are thrilled to be working alongside the Jamaican authorities to raise awareness of the art of the possible in this rapidly evolving sector.”
Our Chief Recovery Officer Joanna Summers was grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the Proceeds of Crime Act in Jamaica:
“This was an incredible lineup of subject matter experts sponsored by the FID to discuss Jamaica’s proceeds of crime act. The agencies’ collaboration was evident between online and in-person attendees which really enhanced the goals of the conference. I am leaving the Island far more knowledgeable on the topic after listening to so many great presenters. Asset Reality is grateful to be partnered with the FID and the Jamaican government to support their continued asset recovery efforts.”
Similarly, our Chief Operations Officer in the Public Sector, Thomas J. Abernathy was
“It was a well-run and educational conference by the FID this past week in Jamaica. I’m looking forward to working and assisting our colleagues in the FID to enhance their asset forfeiture program.”
If you would like to know more about our work in asset recovery and crypto-related disputes, contact connect@assetreality.com
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