3021/2026/WEB 'Financial Investigations' Part III

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 the third episode of a CEPOL webinar series dedicated to sharing practical cases from Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.

This webinar will present case studies from Italy and Spain. The first case involves a sextortion scam in which perpetrators, posing as police officers, extorted money from victims. The investigation traced the criminal network to perpetrators operating from the Middle East, Libya, and Côte d'Ivoire. Additionally, a classic financial investigation case will be demonstrated, showing how financial analysis successfully identified key members of an organizsed crime group. Finally, a cryptocurrency case will detail the main investigative steps and methodologies employed.

Experts will present effective investigative techniques, including traditional methods, cryptocurrency tracing, etc. They will also discuss 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;
• Discuss methods of tracing criminal assets;
• Debate the possibilities and difficulties of law enforcement cooperation within the EU.