The Basel Institute on Governance in partnership with the two Romanian not-for-profit organisations RISE Project and the Journalism Development Network (JDN)’s Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) hosted a third training workshop on Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery – “Follow the money” – on 28–29 April 2016 in Basel, Switzerland. The workshop was organised in the context of a three-year initiative on "Mapping and Visualising Cross-Border Crime” launched in October 2014 and funded by the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme. The first two workshops had taken place in Bucharest, Romania, in the course of 2015.

The April workshop in Basel was attended by a total of 20 participants and presenters including investigative journalists, a law enforcement officer, the President of the Swiss Chapter of Transparency International, a Ph.D. student (International Law), diplomatic staff of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ Sectoral Foreign Policies Division (Economic and Financial Issues Section) as well as staff of the Basel Institute.

JDN experts presented the Network’s research platform “Investigative Dashboard” and online data visualisation platform “Visual Investigative Scenarios”, while ICAR experts introduced participants to the Basel AML Index, an annual ranking assessing country risk regarding money laundering/terrorism financing.

Participants were also acquainted with financial investigative techniques. A presentation on the use of offshore structures to conceal beneficial ownership led to interesting discussions, particularly in the wake of the Panama Papers. Another presentation was given on the virtual currency Bitcoin, creating awareness regarding its potential for laundering the proceeds of crime.

One of the practical exercises required participants to put themselves in the position of the money launderer and to develop a scenario from a basic set of facts that would allow them to bring the proceeds of the crime into Switzerland. This enhanced their understanding of mechanisms often used by criminals for personal benefit.