Financial Crime World

Azerbaijani Authorities Enhance Financial Crime Investigation Techniques to Combat Money Laundering Schemes Linked to New Payment Methods

In a bid to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated money laundering schemes, Azerbaijani authorities have undergone training to improve their understanding of new payment methods and investigative techniques.

Partnership for Good Governance Initiative

The project is part of the European Union and Council of Europe’s joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, which brought together representatives from law enforcement agencies, judiciary, financial intelligence, and central bank practitioners to tackle the growing threat of crypto-enabled crimes.

Training Objectives

The training focused on key areas such as:

  • The legislative framework and regulatory environment surrounding virtual currencies and virtual asset service providers
  • Identifying money trails
  • Recovering assets hidden in cryptocurrencies or digital cards
  • Interagency cooperation to prevent criminal abuse of new payment methods

The training highlighted the importance of cross-border investigations and mutual legal assistance in tackling crypto-enabled crimes. A key component was a discussion on legal and ethical constraints in dark web investigation, providing an open forum for delegates to share their experiences and views.

Good Practices for Blockchain Analysis

The programme also covered good practices for blockchain analysis, enabling investigators to identify cryptocurrency money trails as a starting point for their investigation. The training emphasized the importance of promoting public-private partnerships to exchange information and combat crypto-enabled crimes.

Practical Exercises

Practical exercises depicted real-life money laundering cases involving new payment technologies, requiring delegates to take a multi-faceted approach, ensure multi-agency coordination, and employ different investigative techniques, including open-source research.

Goal of the Training

The ultimate goal of the training was to enhance national capacities to safeguard against the growing misuse of new payment technologies, which pose significant risks for money laundering and terrorist financing globally. The event took place in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 29-30, 2023.