Financial Crime Awareness and Education Takes Centre Stage in Ecuador
A significant step towards enhancing Ecuador’s capacity to tackle financial crimes has been taken with the completion of two intensive training workshops on financial investigations and asset recovery.
Building Capacity Against Financial Crimes
The workshops, held in Quito over the past fortnight, brought together 58 members from various agencies, including:
- Prosecutor General’s Office
- Financial Intelligence Unit
- National Police
- Procuraduria General del Estado
- Judiciary
These sessions were a collaborative effort between our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) and the Ecuadorian authorities.
Training Aims
The training aimed to build capacity within these agencies to:
- Investigate corruption and money laundering cases effectively
- Prosecute corruption and money laundering cases effectively
- Recover illicit assets
A unique aspect of this training was its hands-on approach, where participants worked together on a complex simulated case tailored to the Ecuadorian context.
Feedback from Participants
Participants praised the methodology used during the workshops, describing it as “beyond my expectations”. They noted that group work and discussions were particularly effective, allowing them not only to gain theoretical knowledge but also apply it through practical exercises. One participant commented that this course is “very useful for our job performance”.
Moreover, these sessions provided an opportunity for participants to engage with recent changes in Ecuador’s anti-money laundering and asset forfeiture legal framework, including the new non-conviction based forfeiture law, Extinción de dominio.
Training-of-Trainers Initiative
As part of ICAR’s ongoing efforts to enhance capacity building in Latin America, five members from our team underwent training to deliver courses in the region using ICAR’s unique methodology. These trainers will now be able to provide financial investigations and asset recovery training to partner agencies across the continent.
This initiative is particularly noteworthy as it equips our Green Corruption colleagues with the skills necessary to train Ecuadorian officers on following the money trail in environmental crime cases.
Financial Support
The workshop held from 13-17 March was partially funded by the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund through an ongoing Green Corruption project in Peru. The second workshop, from 20-24 March 2023, received partial financing from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State as part of a grant to the Green Corruption programme.
These efforts underscore ICAR’s commitment to supporting Ecuadorian authorities in their fight against financial crimes, ensuring that justice is served and illicit assets are recovered.