OSCE Mission to Serbia, U.S. Embassy and the Judicial Training Centre help fight money laundering

IVANJICA, Serbia, 8 October 2008 - Combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism were the focus of a training course for judiciary and police officials which ended in Ivanjica today. The two-day course was organized by the OSCE Mission, the United States Embassy and the Judicial Training Centre.

American law enforcement specialists, Italian financial police and local experts led the course discussions on the role of law enforcement institutions and customs in detecting and prosecuting cases involving money laundering and terrorist financing, investigation tools, techniques for tracking the flow of money and the use of phantom companies.

"The goal of the training course was to improve the familiarity of local judiciary and police representatives with money laundering investigation techniques and the role of their institutions in the fight against this type of crime," said Daniel Lemisch, Resident Legal Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.

"The OSCE Mission has supported Serbian institutions in the fight against money laundering since the adoption of the new law in 2005. We believe it is critical that the experience and expertise accumulated by specialized agencies such as the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering, be disseminated as much as possible throughout Serbia," said Stefano Donati, Economic Transparency Adviser at the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Similar training courses were held for judiciary and police officials in Kosmaj, Palic and Zlatibor earlier this year.