Financial investigations

Financial investigations play a crucial role in combatting organised crime, corruption, terrorism financing, and other serious offences by uncovering the financial trails that underpin criminal activities. Following the money often provides the most effective way to identify criminal networks, recover illicit assets, and strengthen the rule of law. In today’s complex financial landscape, marked by digital currencies, global money flows, and sophisticated laundering schemes, enhancing investigative skills and international cooperation is more vital than ever.

The aim of this webinar is to showcase contemporary financial investigation practices within the EU by presenting real case studies from various areas of financial intelligence, analysis, and investigation.

This event is part of a CEPOL webinar series dedicated to sharing practical cases from Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. The next sessions are planned for January 2026.

The first webinar will feature cases involving large-scale movements of cash and gold between Austria and Turkey, used for money laundering purposes exceeding EUR 63 million, a Swedish investigation that successfully traced cryptocurrencies and identified key suspects behind illegal markets for drugs, medicines, and doping on the Darknet, as well as insights from the Spanish National Police on money laundering investigations. Experts will present effective investigative techniques, including traditional methods, cryptocurrency tracing, countering underground banking, identifying money mules. They will also discuss cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), aspects of international collaboration, the collection of crucial evidence for court proceedings, and other key elements of financial investigations, while openly addressing common challenges and enforcement difficulties.

By the end of this webinar, the audience will be able to:

• Identify key intelligence sources and innovative financial investigative methods;
• Recognise examples of crime patterns;
• Debate possibilities and difficulties of law enforcement cooperation within the EU.

EMPACT training activity - EMPACT Drugs trafficking training resource

Combatting new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Details

Time

Wednesday, 26 November at 10:00 CET

Target audience

• Law enforcement officials specialised in financial investigations, money laundering, economic crimes;
• Law enforcement officials specialised in any sort of organised crime;
• Staff of Financial Intelligence Units;
• Prosecutors, judges.