Representatives of Serbian prosecution, judiciary, and law enforcement agencies participated in a five-day visit to their counterparts in the Netherlands and Belgium where they discussed with representatives of Member State and EU institutions enhancing financial investigations, as well as the detection, processing and adjudication of cases of economic crime, money laundering and terrorism financing.
The Serbian delegation, consisting of 14 representatives of the competent authorities, had the opportunity to discuss with their peers the key challenges for effective processing of money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF), such as the standard of proof of criminal origin of assets, use and admissibility of circumstantial evidence, handling and evaluating evidence obtained through international cooperation and/or special investigative measures, with special emphasis on the encrypted communication. Finally, the beneficiaries had the opportunity to exchange experience in the investigation of financial crime with EU Delegated Prosecutors in Belgium and to discuss possible strengthening of the cooperation between the European Prosecutors’ Office and Serbia.
The study visit encompassed 3 separate training sessions on substantiating alleged criminal origin of assets, processing of money laundering from tax evasion as criminal offence and targeting terrorism financing with foreign elements.
Enhancing capacities of Serbian authorities to demonstrate criminal origin of assets in court procedure
In the framework of the study visit a two-day training on proving criminal origin of assets for the purpose of prosecuting money laundering offences, was held on 24-25 April 2023 in Amsterdam and the Hague.
Presentations by the Dutch National Prosecution Service - offices for serious fraud and organized crime, Financial Intelligence Unit and Anti-Money Laundering Centre, familiarized participants with their multi-faceted approach to investigation of assets origin which involves cooperation among various state bodies but also strong public-private partnership. Through practical examples of high-profile cases, the host institutions demonstrated the use of circumstantial evidence, application of financial forensics and building of the case file. Representatives of the National Police Unit provided an overview of the prioritization and strategic planning of the money laundering investigations in line with major risks and new trends. The judges from the Supreme Court of the Netherlands demonstrated the consistent jurisprudence in adjudication of money laundering cases and discussed with the Serbian delegates of the Supreme and Appellate Court standard of proof for criminal origin of assets.
Training session on tax evasion schemes used as predicate offences to ML held with Serbian officials
On 26 April 2023, the Serbian delegation attended a training session on tax evasion schemes as predicate offences to money laundering, held in Brussels, Belgium.
During the training, the Belgian prosecutor within the Appellate Court of Antwerp shared insights into the definition of tax evasion in Belgium, including the legal framework and applicable penalties. The prosecutor also elaborated on how tax evasion can serve as a predicate offence to money laundering and the key factors that need to be considered while assessing circumstantial evidence and electronic evidence in such cases. Most importantly, practical cases from Belgium were presented to ilustrate the mechanism behind tax evasion scheme used by offenders in Belgium including the process of investigation and adjudication as well as sanctioning policies.
Serbian Officials Trained in Good Practices for Combating Terrorism Financing with Foreign Elements
During the last day of the study visit, on April 28, 2023, in Brussels, a training session on "Good Practices in Processing Terrorism Financing Cases with Foreign Elements" was organised. The training took place at the Federal Prosecutors' Office - Department for Terrorism Financing in Brussels and covered various aspects related to combating terrorism financing.
The training included sessions on the processing of terrorist financing with foreign elements and the application of special investigative means. The officials were also trained on the coordination with police and other partners in the fight against terrorism financing. The Federal Prosecutor's Office - Anti-Money Laundering Unit followed up with a training on financial analysis in terrorism financing cases and introduced IT tools for the analysis of financial data. In addition, the Federal Judicial Police CT unit discussed a concrete case on the financing of terrorism, providing practical insights into the investigation process. The training also covered the freezing of assets and the implementation of national financial sanctions by the Federal Prosecutor's Office - Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA).
The Project “Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia” is funded by Sweden, represented by the Swedish International Development Agency and implemented by the Council of Europe.
