OSCE supports webinar on parallel financial investigations and role of cryptocurrencies during cybercrime investigations

An OSCE-supported three-day online training webinar on parallel financial investigations and the role of cryptocurrencies during cybercrime investigations, concluded on 28 May 2021.

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan organized the event in partnership with the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Some 40 law enforcement officials from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine took part in the event.

International experts from Belarus, Slovenia and Israel discussed the organization of parallel financial investigations aimed at proving money laundering with a focus on the international standards, key challenges and ways to improve domestic inter-agency co-operation. They shared their expertise on investigative techniques, with specific relevance to financial investigation, and money-laundering typologies, as well as presented case studies to showcase the key lessons for conducting a successful financial investigation. They discussed the concept of cryptocurrencies, and their use in civil circulation; seizure and arrest of bitcoins during the investigation of cybercrimes; and the international legal regulations on combating crimes related to the use of cryptocurrencies.

The event is part of the Office’s multi-year efforts to counter cybercrimes and to promote good governance and advance the host country’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism system in compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.