Egypt
In May 2002, Egypt passed an anti-money laundering law (Law No. 80 of 2002).
The law criminalized the laundering of funds from narcotics trafficking, prostitution and other immoral acts, terrorism, antiquities theft, arms dealing, organized crime, and numerous other activities. The law also established the Money Laundering Combating Unit (MLCU) as Egypt’s financial intelligence unit (FIU) within the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), which officially began operating on March 1, 2003. In June 2003, the administrative regulations of the anti-money laundering law were issued as Prime Ministerial Decree No. 951/2003.
Money laundering investigations are carried out by one of the three law enforcement agencies in Egypt, according to the type of predicate offense involved. The Ministry of Interior, which has general jurisdiction for the investigation of money laundering crimes, has established a separate anti-money laundering department. The administrative control authority has specific responsibility for investigating cases involving the public sector or public funds. The third law enforcement entity, the National Security Agency, plays a more limited role in the investigation of money laundering cases, where the predicate offense threatens national security. In January 2005, the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing was established within the MLCU to coordinate policy implementation among the various responsible agencies.
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Sources
“Arab Republic of Egypt, Anti-money laundering/terrorist financing”
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, March 2006
