Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela are among the 20 largest developing countries and emerging economies that have illicit financial flows generated over the past decade; when the overall figure rose to nearly $ 6 billion according to a report released this week.
Global Financial Integrity said in its report “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2001-2010” that illicit flows – arising from criminal activities, corruption, tax evasion and overcharging – losses accounted for developing world only 859,000 million in 2010.
“Astronomical amounts of dirty money still coming from the developing world to tax havens and banks in developed countries,” he said in a statement Raymond Baker, director of GFI.
GFI is a program of the Center for International Policy which is dedicated to studying illicit financial flows in a global context and promotes measures to combat them.
The list of the 20 largest economies in developing countries with illicit financial flows during the past decade, China led with 274,000 million, followed by Mexico with 47 600 million.
Costa Rica took the 14th position with $6.3 million, Panama’s 18 with $3.9 million and Venezuela’s 19 with 3.7 million dollars.
Asia was the source of 61% of the funds, followed by the Western Hemisphere with 16%, where the most common is in commercial transactions, then followed the Middle East with 10%, Eastern Europe and Africa with 7% to 6%.
As for the year 2010, the list of the top 20 included Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil, in that order.
The GFI had estimated in January 2011 that Mexico lost a total of $872 billion in illicit flows during the period 1970-2010, and that those funds feed an underground economy that includes drug trafficking, weapons and people.
The agency proposes measures to combat illegal capital flows, such as requiring information about people receiving benefits as owners in all banking and securities accounts, reforming trade and customs protocols.
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa Rica
