Money laundering is criminals’ way of trying to ensure that, in the end, crime pays. It is necessitated by the requirement that criminals — be they drug or arms traffickers, terrorists, or credit card frauds — disguise the origin of their criminal money so they can avoid detection and prosecution. Therefore, following the money is of central importance in detecting, prosecuting and dismantling criminal networks and seizing and confiscating their criminal wealth.
Fighting money laundering requires legal and financial infrastructure in place, as well as efficient law enforcement. Which steps to take to strengthen these three segments in BiH was the focus of the two-day conference on „Money laundering and financial investigations“ which concluded today in Banja Luka under the auspices of the EU Support to Law Enforcement Project. The conference resulted in a series of practical conclusions to enhance the fight against this form of crime.
Money laundering undermines stability, transparency and efficiency of the national financial system, provokes economic disruption and instability, endangers the program of reforms, and reduces investments and employment opportunities. Criminal legislation is indispensable instrument for prevention and repressive measures in the fight against money laundering. The participants share the view of importance of the full compliance of BiH with the relevant international legal acts, primarily with the provisions of the Warsaw Convention, EU Directive 20050/60 and the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations. “A first step towards more successful preventive and repressive action against money laundering is to ensure compliance of the criminal legislation in BiH with the relevant international,” said Brigitte Kuchar, Programme Manager, Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since financial investigations represent the inevitable phase in detecting and proving money laundering and the amount and extent of proceeds of money laundering, the participants believe that all preconditions for effective conduct of financial investigations must be available, which has not been the case in BiH so far. “Among a number of prerequisites, three are particularly important: first, normative, which still has not been provided at all levels of legislation in BiH; second, the provision of specialized bodies for conducting financial investigations; third, the level of competence of stakeholders in the financial investigations. Therefore, participants appeal to the competent authorities to undertake necessary measures to have them fully implemented,” said Karl Lesjak, Team Leader, EU Support to Law Enforcement Project.
Two-day conference was attended by the highest officials of the BiH law enforcement agencies, Europol, USKOK Croatia, and Offices for Prevention of Money Laundering of Austria, Slovenia, and Serbia.
