The Independent Authority Against Corruption, in partnership with the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (STaR), organized training on “Financial Investigation” from November 28 to December 9, 2021. The event was held at the "Public Center" of the IAAC, involving 24 officers from the Investigation Department and Operations Department of the IAAC, the National Police Agency, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The training was conducted remotely by the STaR instructors from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Financial investigations related to serious crimes and confiscations include and require complex knowledge and skills from investigators, such as analyzing bank records and accounts, gathering information and evidence from open sources, and developing financial flow charts and timelines.
Because funds are often transferred through several domestic and foreign (including offshore) accounts, the process of gathering evidence from a foreign country and the ability to gather information in a different legal environment from one's own country are important parts of the investigation. Thus, transnational investigations can be challenging and time-consuming.
The "Financial Investigation" training included hands-on activities based on presentations and the main topics of the course. The training focus on real-life examples, such as financial flows, bank account analysis, schematics, evidence matrices, and time summaries.
