Money laundering is not being prosecuted, he said, and pointed out the inconsistency between investigations and convictions for the most relevant predicate offenses, as well as seizures and forfeitures.

There are no or very few investigations of money laundering cases linked to these predicate offenses. This clearly shows that it is not working well, he added.

In an interview with El Observador newspaper, the Argentine specialist considered that the Uruguayan authorities “do not give due importance to the issue of corruption, and therefore to the bodies in charge of preventing and combating it”.

Montesdeoca added that the perception of the risk of corruption in the country is quite low. “It has been difficult to put on the table the risk of local corruption as a problem in itself.”

He also pointed to the lack of budget as a common denominator in both the public and private sectors in the fight against money laundering.

Montesdeoca said that there is also a lack of awareness that Uruguay is in the path of drug trafficking, which is increasingly affecting this South American country.

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