THE Revenue Protection Division (RPD) and the Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) of the Ministry of Finance are to be merged to form the Financial Investigations Division (FID).The FCU, which was being operated under the umbrella of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), will now be merged with the RPD which is an independent arm of the same ministry.
The merger and completion of paperwork is expected to be finalised in another 12 weeks, sources told The Sunday Gleaner, but it is not clear where the new body will be headquartered.
Information reaching The Sunday Gleaner is that both agencies will retain their primary functions, including new roles that were recently given to the FCU, which was responsible for tracking down violators of the Money Laundering Act.
Head of the current RPD, Mike Surridge, said last week that the new body will remain under the Ministry of Finance.
"We will have an RPD department within this body," he said in an interview. "The main thrust behind the merger is to stop people profiting from crime."
E.V.
