Jamaica’s premier financial crime investigation agencies have achieved unprecedented success in dismantling sophisticated money laundering schemes through revolutionary forensic capabilities. The Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and Financial Investigations Division (FID) report uncovering hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal assets that have significantly boosted state coffers.
According to Colonel Desmond Edwards, Director General of MOCA, criminal organizations have responded to enhanced investigative capabilities by developing increasingly complex methods to conceal illicit gains. ‘Criminals are very much aware, which is why they come up with all kinds of seemingly ingenious ways of hiding their assets—even using unwitting relatives,’ Edwards revealed during a Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange session.
The agencies have undergone a transformative evolution over the past decade, particularly in developing cyber forensic capabilities and financial investigation expertise. MOCA now leads criminal investigations while FID specializes in asset recovery using the same evidence, creating a comprehensive division of labor that has proven remarkably effective.
Dennis Chung, FID’s Chief Technical Director, confirmed that their forensic investigators are ‘top of the line,’ regularly discovering assets that criminals believed were safely hidden. The success rate has generated such concern within criminal circles that lawyers frequently approach the agencies attempting to negotiate settlements—offers that are consistently rejected.
Nigel Parke, Senior Director of Legal and Prosecutorial Services at MOCA, explained that the most common concealment method—registering assets under third-party names—has been effectively neutralized through amended legislation and enhanced investigative techniques. The amended Companies Act now allows investigators to trace beneficial ownership by examining acquisition means and following paper trails.
The results speak for themselves: 2025 saw confiscations of $164.1 million in cash plus court-ordered confiscations exceeding $33 million and US$35,000 in assets. MOCA conducted 33 significant operations resulting in 35 arrests, 30 charges, and 11 convictions. The agencies maintain strict protocols regarding public disclosure, respecting citizens’ rights and preserving the integrity of ongoing court proceedings involving hundreds of millions of dollars.