UNODC organises a regional workshop on Financial Disruption of Illicit Financial Flows
Almaty, Kazakhstan 13-15 September 2017
UNODC, under its Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries (RP), Sub- Programme 2 "International/regional Cooperation in Legal Matters", in cooperation with the Global Programme against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (GPML), and with the support of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC), the EU Heroine Route III Programme and EUROPOL, organised a regional workshop on Financial Disruption of Illicit Financial Flows Associated with Transnational Organized Crime in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 13 to 15 September 2017.
The event was attended by 25 experts on Anti-Money laundering from law enforcement agencies, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), prosecuting authorities and international organizations. Participating countries included I.R. Afghanistan, I.R. Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, I.R. Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, CARICC, UNODC, EUROPOL and the Heroin Route Project.
The goal of the workshop was to facilitate sharing of experiences and best practices at the regional level on the financing of organized crime along with conducting discussions and analysis of main trafficking routes. Additionally, UNODC, CARICC, EUROPOL and the Heroin III Route Project informed the participants about the technical assistance activities and tools developed by the respective organizations to support RP countries.
Experts from all participating countries had the opportunity to make presentations on the prevailing criminal justice systems from their respective countries and share the details of the most relevant on-going investigations and the challenges experienced.
During the 3 day event, a large number of topics were discussed including: transnational cash courier networks, import/export fraud, free trade zones, importance of Money and Value Transfer Services (MVTS) to migrant remittances and fragile economies, abuse of MVTS, including of unwitting money service providers, sensitive investigative techniques (informants, interception of communications, covert surveillance), and the use of bearer negotiable instruments (e.g. signed cheques with no recipient).
Furthermore, in the margins of the training workshop, an FIU to FIU meeting took place. Participants from all countries expressed their interest in furthering negotiations with a view to signing bilateral Memoranda of Understanding that could facilitate the exchange information on suspicious financial transactions.
At the end of the event, the participants expressed their appreciation to UNODC for the assistance provided and requested UNODC to consider the possibility to "institutionalize" this kind of event and convene it on a biannual basis.
UNODC thanks the Japanese government for funding the event.