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Final workshop on Mapping and Visualising Cross-Border Crime
Within the context of a three-year initiative on "Mapping and Visualising Cross-Border Crime” funded by the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme and launched in 2014, experts from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR and the Journalism Development Network JDN conducted their 6th and final workshop on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery – “Follow the money” in February 2019. As with previous workshops in Bucharest, Romania and Basel, it explored opportunities to develop relationships between law enforcement agencies and investigative journalists. The workshop was attended by 23 presenters and participants including staff of the Basel Institute, investigative journalists, a diplomat, a senior KYC/AML bank official and a compliance operations manager. The training workshop covered topics such as JDN’s “Investigative Dashboard” research platform and the Basel Open Intelligence BOI , a new online targeted search tool developed by the Basel Institute for identifying links between individuals, companies and criminal activities. Presentations on the use of offshore structures to conceal beneficial ownership and the virtual currency, Bitcoin, served to raise awareness of tools and mechanisms for laundering the proceeds of crime. One practical exercise required participants to put themselves in the position of a criminal, seeking to derive benefit from the sale of cocaine and a subsequent money laundering scheme designed to conceal the source of the illegal funds. The role of investigative journalism in curbing corruption Law enforcement seeks to secure convictions and identify, trace and recover criminal proceeds stashed away in foreign jurisdictions. In contrast, investigative journalists focus on exposing criminals and disrupting criminal activity. They are not required to operate within the same strict legal confines. However, despite this fundamental difference, the end goal remains the same: to curb crime and ensure that it does not pay. Investigative journalism plays a crucial role in bringing allegations of corruption to light. International consortiums of investigative journalists reflect international cooperation that contributes to bringing financial and economic crime to the attention of the public and law enforcement authorities.
Two-day event in Romania marks successful completion of Swiss-Romanian Co-operation Programme
In his opening remarks, His Excellency, Mr Urs Herren, Swiss Confederation Ambassador in Romania, emphasised how important it is to enhance the investigation and asset recovery capacities of Romanian law enforcement and justice authorities, mandated to investigate and prosecute financial crimes and recover stolen assets. He thanked the trainers from the International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR for providing specialised training, workshop and other activities to national actors under a project entitled “Further enhancing the investigation capacities of the Romanian judiciary by improving the asset recovery competences”. This long-term project was co-financed by a grant from Switzerland and enjoyed particular support from the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets ANABI . Training was conducted in the form of training workshops for a total of 125 participants, over the course of five workshops during 2017, and included developing and delivering a Train-the-Trainer TTT component for six selected participants of the workshops. The final two-day event took place in Bucharest on 12-13 June 2018 and was attended by 35 prosecutors and investigators. It provided an opportunity for the certified trainers to showcase their new skills as trainers and share practical information with peers. The ICAR trainers also gave presentations on the use of Bitcoin to launder proceeds of crime, and a review of the critical components of a criminal investigation into offences, which simultaneously cause prejudice to the State and others and result in benefit to the criminal. ANABI encourages an integrated approach to asset recovery by combining support to Romanian criminal prosecution and investigation bodies with assistance in international co-operation, the management of seized assets and social reuse of confiscated assets. The General Director of ANABI, Mr Cornel-Virgiliu Călinescu, highlighted the significant role that ANABI can play in supporting the asset seizing and confiscation process, and the practical assistance it can provide in tracing criminal assets. Given ANABI’s membership of the CAMDEN Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network CARIN , this further enhances its ability to trace assets held abroad.
Final workshop in Romania on detecting illicit networks and financial crimes
February 2018 has seen the last iteration of the successful "Mapping and Visualizing Cross-Border Crime Project”, a partnership between the Basel Institute on Governance and two not-for-profit organisations in Romania, namely, the Journalism Development Network JDN and the RISE Project. This three-year initiative had funding support from the Swiss–Romanian Cooperation Program. His Excellency Urs Herren, the Swiss Ambassador to the Republic of Romania, opened the last workshop held in Bucharest, Romania. on 21-22 February, emphasising once again how investigative journalists and Law Enforcement Agencies can successfully join forces in the investigation of complex crimes, particularly financial. The project, which comprised of five workshops organised in Switzerland and Romania, had the objective of enhancing the investigative and research skills of journalists, law enforcement and investigative non-state actors in the two countries to detect and uncover local and cross-border illicit networks, and to increase the exposure of organised crime structures as well as their modus operandi. In the course of the last three years, and in the context of this project, experts of the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR provided their training expertise in financial investigations and asset recovery, and in introducing and applying ICAR’s existing tools that support these investigative processes, including, for example, Basel Open Intelligence BOI . Participants to the five workshops learnt about the concept of money laundering and the use of offshore structures to conceal the beneficial ownership of illicit assets as well as investigative techniques in relation to corruption investigations. Practical exercises focused on intelligence gathering and financial investigations to trace assets by using open source information and technology tools. Participants were also exposed to the use by criminals of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to launder the proceeds of their crimes. While the experts from ICAR focused on investigation techniques and the legal framework from a law enforcement perspective, experts from RISE provided case examples in exposing financial crime through the use of open sources in their capacity as investigative journalists.
Train-the-Trainer project in Romania certifies six local trainers
With a view to enhancing the investigation and asset recovery capacities of the Romanian law enforcement and justice authorities mandated to investigate and prosecute anti-corruption and economic crimes and recover stolen assets, the Basel Institute on Governance, through its International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR , has been providing a series of activities, including specialised training in financial investigation, under a project entitled “Further enhancing the investigation capacities of the Romanian judiciary by improving the asset recovery competences”. The Institute’s training service targeted relevant national actors such as the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets ANABI , National Anti-Corruption Directorate, Directorate for Countering Organised Crime and Terrorism, Fraud Investigation Directorate General Inspectorate for Criminal Investigations of the Romanian Police and Directorate of Combating Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering General Directorate for Countering Organised Crime of the Romanian Police , and prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. This training service was conducted in a series of five separate workshops during 2017, and included the development and delivery of a Train-the-Trainers TTT component for a number of specially selected participants of the workshops During the 5th and final training workshop conducted in Bucharest, six local selected trainers further honed their skills as trainers in the ICAR methodology as part of this TTT project carried out in conjunction with ANABI. During October 2017 and under the guidance and mentorship of an ICAR expert, they completed the final training workshop in the project, delivered all training presentations and facilitated the practical exercise and received certification as trainers. Through the use of a simulated practical exercise, which closely resembles the real world and forms the centrepiece of the ICAR training programme, the ICAR expert supervised the selected trainers in the application of the Case Study Method to enhance investigative and prosecutorial capacity amongst their peers and encourage learning. 25 participants were required to “investigate” a complex case customised to the Romanian legal system, legislation and practice by gathering evidence for use at trial and matching the available evidence to the elements of identified Romanian corruption and money laundering offences/criminal violations. The certified trainers are now in a position to conduct such training workshops to the benefit of their colleagues. The workshop also included a presentation by Mr Attila Biro, an investigative journalist on the RISE project with whom the Institute is collaborating within the context of a three-year initiative on "Mapping and Visualising Cross-Border Crime” funded by the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme. It covered the use of open source databases, which could be of assistance and value to investigators and prosecutors. It proved to be most thought-provoking and informative, and encouraged participants to take advantage of such databases to gather information to direct their investigations and inform, for example, Mutual legal Assistance requests.
Tanzania and Romania: sustainability of ICAR's Train-the-Trainer programmes
Sustainable capacity building at a national level is a key activity of the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery. Train-the-Trainer TTT programmes play an important role in the process. Between January and September 2017, ICAR experts delivered a series of practical training workshops on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery in Tanzania to nearly 100 investigators and prosecutors, four of which were also trained to become certified trainers. These certified local trainers are now ready to conduct training workshops independently and are planning to do so early in 2018, thus ensuring the programme’s sustainability. This TTT programme was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC through the Swiss Embassy in Tanzania. It consisted of four workshops and targeted an audience from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau PCCB , the Directorate of Public Prosecutions DPP , the Zanzibar Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Authority ZAECA and the Tanzanian Police Force. A similar TTT programme on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery is currently being rolled out in Romania for the Ministry of Justice's National Office for National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets ANABI . Six potential trainers have been identified and are in the process of getting familiarised with ICAR’s training methodology, already delivering first presentations themselves under the guidance of ICAR experts. Through the use of a simulated practical exercise, the ICAR team mentored the selected trainers in the application of the Case Study Method to enhance investigative and prosecutorial capacity amongst their peers and to encourage learning. The final workshop is scheduled for the end of October 2017 and will be conducted in its entirety by the six selected trainers and monitored by the ICAR's Head of Training.