The new president of the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF), Ricardo Saadi, revealed that only nine employees are working on analyzing 7.5 million reports of suspicious financial transactions. This information arrives daily from financial institutions and sportsbooks across the country.
Call for help for data analysis
Faced with this critical situation, Saadi requested assistance from the National Secretariat of Public Security. The goal is to organize a joint effort to help the team reduce the backlog in analyzing the accumulated data. Furthermore, the agency is expected to receive additional support from banks to examine cases that have been pending analysis for up to five years.
The director highlighted another structural problem during an event held at the São Paulo Law School on Friday (22). Coaf’s technological system dates back to 1999 and will be replaced by a modern platform. Consequently, Saadi expects the new system to work with Artificial Intelligence (AI) within a year.
Low use of banking communications
According to Saadi, only 3% of communications sent by banks become criminal suspicion reports. These documents are then forwarded to the country’s police and public prosecutors.
Saadi explained: “We don’t automatically communicate the other 97%, but they can be accessed by authorities upon request. Then COAF will pass.”
Currently, COAF has 100 employees to carry out all its responsibilities. These roles include representation at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and monitoring the high-end market.
The COAF president emphasized: “Those who worked at COAF did a herculean job. Even without structure, COAF managed to be present in 90% of the major investigations to combat organized crime in the country.”
Due to its low staffing levels, the agency accumulated a backlog of communications that were not timely. Therefore, it took three to five years to complete some analyses, hindering its control over the laundering of illicit funds in the country.
Criticism of staff shortages
São Paulo Attorney General Paulo Sérgio Costa harshly criticized the presence of only nine agents to handle financial intelligence reports. Costa stated: “It’s too few. Brazil is not a narco-state, but it coexists with mafia relations.”
He also noted that organized crime uses its own banks through payment institutions and fintechs.
Likewise, Judge Nino Toldo, of the 3rd Regional Federal Court, classified the situation as shameful.
Toldo declared, “The situation at COAF is shameful.” He later added, “It’s unacceptable that nine people have to deal with 7.5 million pieces of information. What’s reaching the courts today is just a drop in the bucket.”
Toldo emphasized: “If you want to combat organized crime, you need to invest in combating the infiltration of organized crime agents into the State structure.”
Resistance to federal coordination
The judge criticized governors’ resistance to a federal structure for national coordination. He argued that organized crime transcends state borders. Toldo argued: “The public security constitutional amendment must bind the states so that this fight can be carried out effectively.”
For lawyer Pierpaolo Bottini, a professor of Criminal Law at the University of São Paulo (USP) and organizer of the event, the situation remains precarious. However, COAF maintains its relevance in combating national crime. Bottini assessed: “The work is good, despite the situation.”
Commitment to expanding the workforce
At the end of the event, Saadi reported on a conversation with the National Secretary of Public Security, Mário Sarrubbo. The secretary committed to tripling the number of staff responsible for financial intelligence reports.
Therefore, the team will increase from nine to 27 professionals. It’s worth noting that COAF is subordinate to the Central Bank. According to Saadi, the Central Bank also supports the agency’s reform.
He concluded: “We have a perfect storm in a good way. And, if we can achieve technological evolution, the need for more employees will be less. But there is support from the Central Bank and the Public Sector for this. All the signs are positive.”
