Santo Domingo, April 10, 2024. The investigation of economic and financial crimes plays an important role in undermining the ability of criminal networks to obtain, transfer, and conceal illicit gains. These investigations require specialized knowledge and skills that must be constantly updated to address evolving criminal practices.
Additionally, the prompt identification and development of robust investigative reports are key factors in facilitating prosecution, closing the gap that often persists between the agencies responsible for detection and investigation and those responsible for justice procurement.
In order to strengthen inter-institutional cooperation and coordination and increase the technical capacity of national authorities to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate acts of corruption and money laundering, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), within the framework of the technical assistance provided by its Anti-Corruption Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, conducted the workshop on investigation techniques and prosecution of corruption cases (Phase 1), from April 8 to 10, 2024, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
This training responds to a request for technical assistance made by the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Public Ministry of the Dominican Republic and is part of the commitments assumed by the countries that make up the Regional Platform to Accelerate the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Central America.
The technical support focuses on thematic area V of the Platform’s roadmap on “investigation, prosecution, and international cooperation in cases of corruption," which includes as one of its objectives "strengthening investigative and prosecutorial capacities in the management of complex corruption cases to reduce impunity.”
The opening ceremony was chaired by Magistrate Fernando Quezada García, Attorney General of the Court of Appeal of the Public Ministry, who was accompanied at the head table by Dr. Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Director General of the Directorate General of Ethics and Governmental Integrity (DIGEIG), Ambassador Ramón Quiñones, Director of Security and Defense of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Jason Reichelt, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer of UNODC.
The training was aimed at 33 officials (14 women and 19 men) from the Criminal Investigations Unit (UIC) and the Specialized Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (PEPCA) of the Public Ministry, the Directorate General of Ethics and Governmental Integrity (DIGEIG), the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Through this activity, participants strengthened their knowledge in the investigation and construction of complex corruption cases, money laundering, and other determinative crimes through the analysis of a hypothetical case that addresses the complex schemes used by criminal structures to conceal assets derived from crime. In the analyzed case, investigative processes and techniques for analyzing direct and indirect documentary evidence were applied; special investigation techniques (subject to judicial authorization) were used, and advanced criminal linkage graphics were used obtained from specialized forensic software.
The training was conducted by experts from the UNODC Regional Anti-Corruption Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks to the financial support of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the government of Canada.
