Ecuador’s UAFE Opens an Anonymous Money-Laundering Reporting Channel

Ecuador’s Financial and Economic Analysis Unit, known as UAFE, has opened a platform for anonymous reports about possible money laundering. Primicias reported the launch on August 19, 2026 at 23:11.

The platform is part of a national campaign called “Rompe el esquema, denuncia el lavado de activos”, or “Break the scheme, report money laundering.” The stated goal is to involve the public in preventing and detecting the movement of illicit funds into the formal economy.

What the platform is for

The campaign asks how someone can explain wealth that does not match known income. The examples given by UAFE include a neighbor who repeatedly changes high-end vehicles, a public official with an average salary who accumulates difficult-to-justify assets, or a business that appears to have no customers but continues operating.

The source is careful about the distinction between an alert and proof. Those circumstances, by themselves, do not establish a crime. They may become warning signs when there are indications that money from illegal activity is being presented as legitimate income.

Two separate forms

The reporting channel is available through www.uafe.gob.ec and has two different forms:

1. One for possible money laundering and related prior crimes.
2. One for possible acts of corruption within UAFE itself.

The institution says it aims to protect the identity of people who provide information and maintain confidentiality around the submitted data. Ana Paula Patiño, UAFE’s director general, said the campaign is intended to help citizens recognize warning signs and understand when and how to report them.

The crimes that may be related to money laundering include drug trafficking, corruption, illegal mining, organized crime, smuggling, illicit enrichment, and tax fraud, among others, according to the report.

What this means for expats

Foreign residents and foreign-owned businesses may encounter the channel when they see suspicious activity involving a company, property, cash-intensive operation, or unexplained assets. The platform is a reporting mechanism, not a determination that a person or business committed a crime.

Do not treat an unusual purchase or an unfamiliar business as proof of wrongdoing. The source says the relevant issue is whether there are indicators that illicit funds are entering the economic system as legitimate income. Anyone considering a report should use the official UAFE channel and preserve the distinction between observed facts and conclusions.

The immediate change is institutional: Ecuador now has a public-facing platform with separate reporting routes. The source does not publish an expected response time, a public tracking process, or a rule that every report will result in an investigation.

Source: Primicias

For anyone who encounters a potentially suspicious situation, the reporting decision should begin with what can actually be observed and documented. The campaign’s examples are prompts for attention, not instructions to accuse a neighbor, official, or business based on appearance alone. That distinction is particularly important for expats, who may be unfamiliar with local businesses or ownership structures and may not have enough context to interpret an unusual transaction. The official platform is the appropriate place to review the forms and decide whether the information fits one of the two reporting routes.