Sudan

1. Does Sudan have legislation making it a criminal offence to engage in money laundering and/or terrorist financing?

The Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of Terrorism Financing (AML CTF) Act was promulgated on 18.06.2014 and is still in effect. Sections 35/36 of the Act make it an offence to engage in money laundering and/or terrorist financing.

2. To whom does the legislation apply?

The AML CTF applies to natural and legal persons active in the financial sector in the field of banking, finance, insurance, capital markets and those acting in other sectors including real estate, minerals, and lawyering and accounting.

3. What does the legislation prohibit?

AML CTF s 35 (1) provides that a person is said to commit money laundering if he/she knows or has reasons to believe that any money is the proceeds of crime and intentionally do any of the following:

• Transfers, transports or exchanges with the intention to conceal or whiten its criminal origin or assist an accomplice in the original crime that produced the money to escape accountability or conceals or obscures the illegal identity, origin, location, disposition, movement, ownership or derivatives of the money or proceeds.
• Acquires, owns, possesses or utilizes such money or proceeds.

Punishment for the original offence shall not exempt the offender from punishment for money laundering.

Conviction of the original offence is not a condition for proving illegal origin of money.

4. How is money laundering defined? Does underlying criminal activity have to be proven?

The AML CTF section 36(1) provides that “a person is said to commit the crime of financing terrorism whoever intentionally or directly or indirectly by whatever means provide or raise money of legal or illegal origin with the intention of using or knowledge that it will wholly or partially be used for committing a terrorist act or by a terrorist organisation or a terrorist. Under section 36(2) of AML CTF acts described under AML CTF 36(1) shall be deemed terrorist financing notwithstanding no such terrorist act took place, the money was not used to attempt or carry out such act or that nowhere in any country the money was not linked with any terrorist act or attempt to commit such act.

No conviction for the underlying criminal activity is needed to justify a conviction of money laundering.

5. What level of intent or knowledge is required to establish a violation?

Specific intention, knowledge and constructive knowledge are varying levels of intention used in the Act. These are not interchangeable levels but heterogeneous levels each tied with the type of act in issue.

6. What are the potential penalties for infringing the legislation?

Violation of sections 35 or section 36 is, for natural persons, punishable upon conviction with imprisonment for 5-10 years and a fine equal to double the amount of illegal money or proceeds in issue. If committed by a natural person to the account of a corporate entity or by a corporate entity, the latter shall also be punishable with a fine of up to the amount of SDG 50000-500000.

7. Does the legislation have extra-territorial reach?

The AML CTF Act is applicable within limits of the standard conflicts of law rules and has no extra-territorial reach.

8. Are there additional anti-money laundering or counter terrorist financing regulations or obligations, such as registration or reporting obligations, for businesses or individuals that operate in particular sectors or undertake particular activities?

AML CTF Act requires banks, insurance companies, capital companies, financiers and other companies to adopt and implement protective rules and procedures relating to identification documents for account opening and management, knowledge and implementation of the (KYC) protocol and keeping and archiving of money transfer documents.

Business and services regulators including the Central Bank, Capital Market Authority and insurance supervision board are obliged to inspect and verify compliance with the relevant rules and procedures.

9. What are the potential penalties for failing to comply with these obligations?

A failure to comply with these protective rules and procedures exposes business associations to fines and members of the board of directors thereof to imprisonment under AML CFT Section 38. The Act provides for the establishment of a Financial Information Unit (FIU) which has the mandate to receive complaints, order discovery and lodge complaints against offending businesses or natural persons. At the top of AML CTF is established a National Committee for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (Section 23-29). This committee operates under the auspices of the president of Sudan and is in turn responsible for strategies, planning, perfection and optimum operation of the AML CTF regime.

10. Who are the relevant enforcement authorities in Sudan and what are their contact details?

The main enforcement agent for international liaison and other purposes is the Undersecretary, Ministry of Justice who ex officio is president of AML CTF National Committee.

Its address is:

Justice Tower, Gamhuria Avenue, PO Box 302, Postal Code 11111

T: +249 183 764 168

moj@mojj.gov.sd