Enhancing the detec,on, inves,ga,on, and disrup,on of illicit financial flows from wildlife crime

Transcription

1 Enhancing the detec,on, inves,ga,on, and disrup,on of illicit financial flows from wildlife crime Key findings, recommenda,ons, good prac,ces, and red flag indicators Jenny Feltham and Chris Ba2

2 AML: An underu,lised tool for wildlife crimes Highly lucra,ve and specialised area of transna,onal organised crime Very high prices in the black market indicate the existence of significant illicit financial flows Financial inves,ga,on and AML techniques are rarely used LiFle is known about how proceeds of crime are moving

3 Introduc,on: APG/UNODC Wildlife Project APG agreed to undertake research project with UNODC Ques,onnaire developed to solicit data and informa,on from jurisdic,ons Total of 45 jurisdic,ons responded: Asia-Pacific Africa Europe Americas Total

4 1. Most jurisdic:ons are affected by wildlife crime 86% of respondents reported that their jurisdic,on are affected by wildlife crime

5 2. Wildlife crime is not widely considered to be a money laundering threat 65% of jurisdic,ons don t recognise wildlife crime as a risk 71% of jurisdic,ons don t consider wildlife crime as a money laundering threat Yes No Yes No N/A

6 3. Insufficient financial inves:ga:ons are conducted for wildlife crimes Only 26% jurisdic,ons reported conduc,ng financial inves,ga,ons for wildlife crime cases Due to lack of financial inves,ga,ons, very lifle is known about payment methods What was reported included cash couriers, informal hawala or hundi type systems, Western Union, prepaid cards, Crypto currencies (e.g. Bitcoin)

7 4. Inadequate legal frameworks and ins:tu:onal arrangements create challenges for jurisdic:ons to follow the money Wildlife crime is not a predicate offence for money laundering in the na,onal legisla,on of 22% of jurisdic,ons MOUs are not in place between FIU and other law enforcement agencies in 35% of jurisdic,ons There are no specific systems in place to detect suspicious financial ac,vity related to wildlife crime

8 5. FIUs are rarely included in a mul:-agency approach for wildlife crimes Many jurisdic,ons provided good examples of mul,- agency models and prac,ces in place for wildlife crimes However, only 21% reported that their mul,-agency approach involves the FIU This indicates that unlike other serious crime types, FIUs are rarely engaged in wildlife crime inves,ga,ons

9 6. Very few wildlife crime cases result in serious penal:es 432 cases 326 with arrests 47 successful prosecu:ons 28 prison penal:es 4 serious penal:es Legisla,on in 67% of jurisdic,ons has maximum penal,es for wildlife crimes that meet the UNTOC defini,on of serious crime ( 4 years in prison) but serious penal,es are rarely applied

10 7. Alterna:ve offences are rarely used to pursue wildlife crimes Only 55% of respondents reported using/being able to use alterna,ve offences in this way. But more than 1/4 of these reported they do not actually do so in prac,ce. Money laundering in par,cular is rarely used as an alterna,ve offence Only 1% of cases explicitly referred to instances of money laundering inves,ga,on, charges or prosecu,on

11 8. Insufficient further inves:ga:ons are conducted ater wildlife seizure and arrest Jurisdic,ons reported conduc,ng further inves,ga,ons ajer seizure and arrest in only 11% of cases Inadequate further inves,ga,on leads to a weak evidence base for the case, and can hinder or even prevent law enforcement agencies from being able to bring the case to court

12 9. Inadequate interna:onal coopera:on in handling wildlife crime cases 47% of respondents did not cooperate with other jurisdic,ons in wildlife crime cases to share informa,on, conduct joint inves,ga,ons, etc. Challenges iden,fied included: Ø Slow turnaround,mes on informa,on requests Ø Language barriers Ø Wildlife crime is not perceived to be a key priority for specialised coopera,on Many countries reported using INTERPOL, Europol, CENComm, FIU to FIU channels, etc. for informa,on sharing

13 10. Asset forfeiture is under-u:lised in wildlife crime cases Only 30% of jurisdic,ons reported using asset freezing or asset forfeiture techniques to recover the proceeds of wildlife crime In many jurisdic,ons the ac,ve use of asset forfeiture provisions in wildlife crime cases is not common policy There is a lack of awareness and exper,se amongst prac,,oners in how to use these mechanisms.

14 Recommenda,ons, good prac,ces, and red flag indicators

15 Recommenda,ons Legisla,on should enable wildlife crime to be treated as serious crime in line with UNTOC, i.e. where maximum penalty of 4 years imprisonment exists or more serious penalty Legisla,on should allow the use of alterna,ve offences to pursue wildlife crimes Legisla,on should enable wildlife crime to be considered a predicate offence for money laundering Domes,c mul,-agency coopera,on should be common prac,ce for wildlife crimes, including FIUs

16 Informa,on exchange between law enforcement agencies, FIUs, financial ins,tu,ons, and civil society should be encouraged Further and follow-up inves,ga,ons, including financial inves,ga,ons, should be conducted ajer every major wildlife seizure As a mafer of course, jurisdic,ons should conduct parallel financial inves,ga,ons alongside those into the predicate wildlife offence in compliance with FATF Rec #30 Improve the inves,ga,on of wildlife crime and the related financial flows through interna,onal coopera,on

17 The use of informal networks for interna,onal informa,on sharing should be common prac,ce. ARIN-AP Ensure that FIUs are provided with adequate resources and ins,tu,onal arrangements to perform their responsibili,es effec,vely Where appropriate, Na,onal AML/CFT Risk Assessments should reflect the fact that wildlife crime is a high risk area for money laundering Encourage law enforcement to work coopera,vely with financial ins,tu,ons to track financial crime related to wildlife crime

18 Asset freezing, seizing, and confisca,on measures should be used in wildlife crime cases whenever possible Opera,onal recommenda,ons for law enforcement authori,es and FIUs: - Examine how shipment/transporta,on was paid for - Always consider financial profile when ques,oning suspects - Work with financial sector to iden,fy indicators for suspicious transac,ons Further financial inves,ga,ons are needed as a mafer of priority, in order to iden,fy typologies for financial flows related to wildlife crimes and develop financial risk indicators Capacity building support that is available in the field of financial inves,ga,on and money laundering should be drawn upon to fullest extent possible

19 Good prac,ces Integra,ng mul,-agency coopera,on into na,onal strategies to combat wildlife trafficking Conduc,ng rou,ne and targeted screenings of shipments to enhance detec,on of wildlife crime Including the FIU in mul,-agency coopera,on

20 Using informal networks for interna,onal informa,on sharing and as a precursor to formal Mutual Legal Assistance Law enforcement authori,es and civil society coopera,ng closely on informa,on exchange Establish parallel financial inves,ga,ons as part of any inves,ga,on into wildlife crime

21 Red flag indicators Know Your Customer/ Due diligence Ø Individuals or legal en,,es opera,ng in environmental/ natural resource fields or transport logis,cs providers Ø Shell companies Payment methods Ø Wildlife poaching networks operate as cash-courier businesses Ø Wildlife trafficking networks appear to maintain mul,-country accounts and conduct financial transfers across geographic boundaries Ø Informal systems such as hawala or hundi systems are commonly used Ø Payments to individuals in foreign jurisdic,ons ojen made via Western Union and PayPal

22 Summary Principal findings show that financial inves,ga,on, AML techniques, and the general concept of following the money are rarely used by jurisdic,ons to combat wildlife crime A number of good prac,ces, red flag indicators, and recommenda,ons have been highlighted to enhance the work of jurisdic,ons These should con,nue to be developed as more financial inves,ga,ons are conducted, and further informa,on and experience come to light

23 Thank you