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Slovak Authorities Enhance Financial Crime Investigation Techniques with Council of Europe Training Course

A recent training course on financial investigations, organized by the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, brought together top officials from Slovak intelligence, law enforcement, and prosecutorial authorities. The event was held in Bratislava on May 23-24, 2023, as part of a series of capacity-building activities aimed at strengthening Slovakia’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.

Developing Specialized National Capacity

The development of specialized national capacity for conducting financial investigations has been recognized as a crucial condition for effectively combating economic crime. Well-conducted financial investigations can help identify organized criminal networks, trace the flow of money and assets, and link criminals to their illegal activities. However, specialized skills and expertise are required to conduct such investigations and use the results to prosecute criminals and recover stolen proceeds.

Training Course Objectives

The training course focused on enhancing the capacities of Slovak authorities to conduct parallel financial investigations in all cases generating proceeds from criminal activity, following the “follow the money” principle at both operational and pre-trial stages. Participants learned about:

Financial investigation planning, techniques, and procedures
Sources of evidence, financial analysis processes, and asset recovery methods

Training Package

The training package included:

Hands-on exercises
Concrete case studies
Interactive discussions to help participants apply their knowledge in practical scenarios

Trainers shared real-life examples and best practices on financial investigations, fostering exchanges between participants from various authorities. The training content was tailored to the specific context of Slovakia, incorporating examples of past cases.

Participation

Thirty representatives from Slovak authorities, including:

General Prosecutor’s Office
National Crime Agency
National Central Office of Special Crimes
Financial Intelligence Unit within the Police Force Presidium

participated in the course. Participants praised the value of the training content and format for their current and future work.

The training materials will be shared with trainers’ notes, allowing Slovak practitioners to reuse them to train their peers internally, promoting further capacity-building towards better specialization of Slovak law enforcement in financial investigations – a key component of an effective AML/CFT system.

Project Background

This training course is part of a series of capacity-building activities on financial investigations and asset recovery within the “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the AML Framework in Slovakia” project. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support and implemented by the Council of Europe. Future training sessions will focus on asset recovery and confiscation and open-source intelligence.

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