Credit: europoleuropa.eu   / Catherine De Bolle,  Executive Director of EUROPOL,  the law enforcement organization for the  EU.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

EUROPOL  launched the new European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) Friday at its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands to stay a step ahead of criminal organizations seeking to exploit weakness in the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  The pandemic in Europe has provided ample evidence that criminals are quick to adapt their criminal schemes to changing conditions to exploit fears and vulnerabilities, Europol said in a statement.  To effectively disrupt and deter criminals involved in serious and organised crime, law enforcement authorities need to follow the money trail as a regular part of their criminal investigations with the objective of seizing criminal profits, according to Europol.  The Centre will enhance the operational support provided to the EU Member States and EU bodies in the fields of financial and economic crime and promote the systematic use of financial investigations.  According to Europol, the new EFECC has been set up within the current organisational structure of Europol that is already playing an important part in the European response to financial and economic crime and will be staffed with 65 international experts and analysts.

“Organized crime costs the EU each year 110 Billion Euros, which could be used for infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and supporting European economies, especially after the COVID-19 crisis.”

-Catherine De Bolle,  Executive Director of EUROPOL

DeBolle noted that only about 1.2 Billion Euros in criminal assets are confiscated each year.  “European law enforcement agencies make a lot of efforts to confiscate criminal assets at the EU level, however, we believe we have to do more and better. Because 1.2 Billion is a small number.  There are several obstacles…limited access to information and limited sharing of financial information across borders. We have to change this,” the Executive Director of Europol stated.   “The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has weakened our economy and created new vulnerabilities from which crime can emerge. Economic and financial crime, such as various types of fraud, money laundering, intellectual property crime, and currency counterfeiting, is particularly threatening during times of economic crisis.” 

DeBolle said to effective more change, the EFECC is being launched in a timely manner. 

Catherine De Bolle,  Executive Director of EUROPOL,  the law enforcement organization for the  EU at the launching of the new European Financial Crime Centre  at press conference at  Europol headquarters in The Hauge, Netherlands June 5, 2020. 

Pandemic, Economic Crisis Creates Opportunity For Organized Crime Groups

Credit: europost.eu /   Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship

“The centre we are launching today will help step up financial investigations across the EU. Financial and economic crime harms us all and doesn’t stop at national borders. And it’s often a key activity of organised crime groups that we can uncover if we follow the money. With our new centre, we’ll be better equipped to fight economic crime together.”

-Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship

Commissioner Johansson, who announced the launching of the EFECC  with the Europol Executive Director,  added: “We not only have a pandemic crisis but an economic crisis. This creates opportunity for the  organized groups to go into and be stronger when the legal economy is weaker.”

Economic Stimuli Such As Those Proposed Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Will Be Targeted by Criminals

According to Europol,  only 2 percent of criminal assets are frozen, and about 1.1 percent is finally confiscated, which means currently criminal are keeping 98.9 percent of their profits from 110 Billion Euros each year.   According to Europol, economic stimuli such as those proposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will be targeted by criminals seeking to defraud public funding. To effectively disrupt and deter criminals involved in serious and organised crime, law enforcement authorities need to follow the money trail as a regular part of their criminal investigations with the objective of seizing criminal profits.

Credit Europol:  Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands,  Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency