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                    Australia Summit Probes Terror Financing

   by Phil Mercer

   Australia and Indonesia are co-hosting the Asia-Pacific's first
   Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit in Sydney, which brings together
   more than 150 experts in counter-terrorism financing from more than a
   dozen countries, including the United States and Canada.

   Australia's financial intelligence agency, known as AUSTRAC, has
   reported a record number of investigations into the funding of
   terrorism. Transactions suspected of being linked to militant groups
   have tripled over the past year, mainly because of the flow of
   Australian extremists travelling to fight in Syria and Iraq. During
   that period, AUSTRAC was alerted to more than 530 cases with alleged
   links to radical organizations.

   The complex task of tracking money to its sources is the focus of a
   two-day summit co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia in Sydney.
   Delegates have heard it is not an easy task given that most terrorism
   financing involves low-value payments, which are often disguised or
   hidden within legitimate deals.

   "The problem for us of course is that a terrorist act as we know can
   start from someone purchasing a knife, to someone purchasing air
   tickets, to obviously more complex terrorist acts. So the range of
   funds that could be involved are extensive and again that's one of the
   challenges we face.  So the quantum of money in any particular
   transaction or act of itself is just one indicator, we need to link
   that to many other indicators that would start to paint a picture to
   allow us to act promptly," said Paul Jevtovic, the head of AUSTRAC.

   Authorities say they are monitoring more than 100 people in Australia
   suspected of bankrolling extremist organizations.

   The aim of the Sydney summit is to build closer international
   cooperation to combat the funding of extremism and other serious
   financial crime.

   Australia's Justice Minister Michael Keenan is to visit Malaysia,
   Singapore and the Philippines next month to strengthen
   intelligence-sharing in the fight against Islamic State.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/australia-summit-probes-terror-financ
   ing/3061376.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/australia-summit-probes-terror-financing/3061376.html