Last week the delegation of the State Police visited one of the leading investigation institutions for combating the economic crimes in the European Union – Guardia di Finanza in Rome, Italy. This law enforcement institution specializes in the fields of investigation of fraud related to the funds of the European Union funds, tax fraud and money laundering, as well as in the international cooperation. The exchange of experience trip took place from 15 to 17 May within the framework of the European Economic Area financial instrument program for the period of 2014 - 2021 “International Police Cooperation and Combating Crime” project No. EEZ/VP/2020/1 “Support to the State Police for Acceleration and Quality Improvement of Investigation of Economic Crimes in Latvia”.
The exchange of experience trip was organized with the aim to identify the best practice examples on the European Union level in relation to the investigation of fraud with the European Union funds, as well as other economic crimes, hence enriching the experience and knowledge that would allow to enhance the investigative work in this field in Latvia. The investigation institution of the Republic of Italy Guardia di Finanza is considered one of the best law enforcement institutions in the European Union that investigates criminal offences against the financial interests of the European Union. Therefore the primary goals of this visit were to strengthen the institutional relations and improve competences of the officials in the field of combating organized economic crimes.
During the trip the central headquarters of Guardia di Finanza, the Guardia di Finanza academy and the departments which deal with combating of fraud with the funds of the EU funds, tax fraud, money laundering and international cooperation were visited. During the visits the heads and employees of Guardia di Finanza departments made several presentations to the Latvian delegation, during which they informed in detail about the operation of their departments, its structure, responsibilities, as well as shared their stories of success and best practice within investigation of the criminal offences related to fraud with the EU funds, money laundering and tax fraud. During the presentations the representatives of the Latvian delegation could ask questions and establish contacts with the officials of Guardia di Finanza.
The obtained information allows to assess and consider what the State Police could take over and implement within its operation to ensure more efficient investigation of criminal offences, inter alia in cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) which is authorized to investigate crimes affecting the EU budget, as well as to prosecute and hold accountable in this relation.
It should be noted that since last year the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Economic Crime Combatting Department 2nd Division has closely cooperated with the EPPO and several common investigations have been carried out in relation to the cases of fraud with the EU funds in Latvia. At the same time it is important to make the existing practice of the operational and investigative activities of the State Police more efficient therefore during the visit to Italy such matters as intelligence management and analytical capabilities as well as investigation of crimes and AML were discussed as well.
The Latvian delegation was represented by the EPPO delegated prosecutor Dainis Šteinbergs, the Chief of the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Andrejs Grišins, the Deputy Chief of the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Reinis Znotiņš, the Deputy Chief of the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Economic Crime Combatting Department, the Chief of the 1st Division Svens Kristjansons, the Deputy Chief of the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Economic Crime Combatting Department, the Chief of the 2st Division Vitālijs Polovinskis and the officials of the 1st and 2nd Division of the State Police Central Criminal Police Department Economic Crime Combatting Department.
Visit was organized within the framework of the European Economic area grant 2014-2021 programme “International Police Cooperation and Combating Crime” project No.EEZ/VP/2020/1 “Support to the State Police for increasing effectiveness and quality of economic crime investigation in Latvia”