schema:articleBody
| - Europe's police agency launched a new financial crime-fighting arm on Friday to help member states recover the proceeds of organised and white-collar crime by "following the money". The European Financial and Economic Crime Centre, based at Europol in The Hague, will target criminal groups that have become even more aggressive during the coronavirus pandemic, the agency's director Catherine De Bolle said. Organised crime costs the European Union more than 110 billion euros ($124 billion) every year, Europol said. "But where do we hurt them most? When we take away the money, the proceeds they have," De Bolle told AFP at the centre's launch at Europol's headquarters. "So it is our conviction, that together with the member states that we have, to follow the money and we have to do much more, and better than we have before," she said. Fraud "is among the fastest-growing criminal threats in Europe", Europol added in its latest report, saying online fraud in particular is "among the most visible criminal activities during the COVID-19 pandemic". The new centre will specifically coordinate investigations into fraud and crimes such as money laundering and asset recovery, and the sale of counterfeit goods. "Hundreds of international financial crime investigations are conducted in the EU every year," said Europol, which assisted in 317 investigations into economic and financial crimes last year. Despite investigations often leading to arrests and the dismantling of criminal groups, however, "more than 98 percent of criminal assets are still not recovered", it said. De Bolle said investigators will now aim to find the link between the information on criminal groups and their finances. The new centre will employ around 65 financial investigators from law agencies across Europe, sharing some 650 years of experience in probing financial crimes. jhe/erc/jv
|