Organised Crime Situation Report 2005
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Council of Europe Octopus Programme Council of Europe Organised crime situation report 2005 Focus on the threat of economic crime English only Provisional Résumé en français December 2005 For additional information please contact: Department of Crime Problems Directorate General of Legal Affairs Council of Europe Strasbourg, France Tel +33-3-9021-4506 The opinions expressed in this technical Fax +33-3-8841-3955 report do not necessarily reflect official Email [email protected] positions of the Council of Europe. 2 Contents SUMMARY AND THREAT ASSESSMENT _____________________________________________________ 5 The threat of organised crime ___________________________________________________ 5 Economic crime – a threat for Europe?____________________________________________ 9 1 ORGANISED CRIME IN EUROPE: THE FRAMEWORK___________________________________ 17 1.1 Background and purpose of the report _____________________________________ 17 1.2 The concept of organised crime __________________________________________ 18 1.3 Environmental scan ___________________________________________________ 22 2 THE ORGANISED CRIME SITUATION ________________________________________________ 28 2.1 Criminal activities _____________________________________________________ 29 2.1.1 Trafficking in drugs ____________________________________________ 29 2.1.2 Trafficking in human beings _____________________________________ 32 2.1.3 Smuggling of persons __________________________________________ 37 2.1.4 Cybercrime __________________________________________________ 40 2.1.5 Other activities _______________________________________________ 44 2.1.6 Money laundering _____________________________________________ 46 2.2 Organised crime groups and networks_____________________________________ 49 2.2.1 Organised crime cases and groups _______________________________ 49 2.2.2 The structure of organised crime groups and networks ________________ 50 2.2.3 Modi operandi ________________________________________________ 52 2.3 Country summaries____________________________________________________ 58 3 ECONOMIC CRIME IN EUROPE – A CONVERGENCE STORY? ___________________________ 68 3.1 Introduction __________________________________________________________ 68 3.2 The concept of economic crime __________________________________________ 69 3.3 Corporate villains and victims: views from within businesses, western and eastern __ 71 3.4 For Western Europe: let there be light _____________________________________ 72 3.5 For Eastern Europe: Russia – brief case study ______________________________ 73 3.6 Technology-assisted economic crime in everyday life _________________________ 75 3.7 Harms caused by economic crimes _______________________________________ 78 3.8 Economic crime versus crime in general ___________________________________ 84 3.9 Economic crime and organised crime______________________________________ 86 3.10 Interrelationship between economic and organised crime in Russia ______________ 90 3.11 Threat assessment and economic crime ___________________________________ 94 3.12 Audits and prevention of economic crime___________________________________ 98 3.13 Regulatory actions against economic crime ________________________________ 102 3.14 Business against economic crime _______________________________________ 106 3.15 Economics and the costs of crime _______________________________________ 108 3.16 Conclusions ________________________________________________________ 110 4 REFERENCES __________________________________________________________________ 113 5 APPENDIX______________________________________________________________________ 122 5.1 The “dark figure” of economic crime – some analytical issues__________________ 122 5.2 Octopus Interface: summing up of discussions (Cascais, September 2005) _______ 127 5.3 Résumé du rapport de situation 2005_____________________________________ 134 3 4 Summary and threat assessment Organised crime, corruption and other forms of economic and serious crime will remain priority concerns of European societies in the years to come. The heads of states and governments participating in the 3rd summit of the Council of Europe (Warsaw, 16 - 17 May 2005) therefore tasked the Council of Europe to further develop its activities in these fields. The purpose of the 2005 organised crime situation report thus is: To point at new threats and major issues of concern To help policy makers in Europe make more informed decisions on anti-crime policies. In addition to an assessment of the overall organised crime situation, the 2005 report contains a topical a chapter on the question of economic crime. Given the serious impact of economic crime on societies and its links to corruption and organised crime, this topic is highly relevant. The chapters on the organised crime situation have been prepared by the Department of Crime Problems (Directorate General of Legal Affairs) of the Council of Europe, while the part on economic crime was written by Professor Michael Levi (Cardiff University, United Kingdom), Dr. Nicholas Dorn (Cardiff University, United Kingdom) and Professor Leonid Fituni (Centre for Strategic and Global Studies, Moscow). THE THREAT OF ORGANISED CRIME THE ENVIRONMENT OF ORGANISED CRIME The United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime reflects a globally agreed upon concept of organised crime. Nevertheless, ambiguities remain, rendering analyses of organised crime and reporting on the organised crime situation in the 46 member States of the Council of Europe rather difficult. Security continues to be a primary concern in many societies around the world, in particular following the terrorist attacks in Spain, the Russian Federation and Turkey in 2004, and in the United Kingdom and Egypt in 2005. Surveys suggest that Europeans are particularly anxious about their safety. Terrorism and the general feeling of insecurity will continue to influence crime policies, and generate controversies over the balance between security and fundamental rights and freedoms. The occasional linkage – or even amalgamation – of the concepts of organised crime and terrorism adds further ambiguities, sometimes generating a misleading connection between terrorism and particular methods by which it is financed or conducted. Organised crime and terrorism are – a priori – distinct concepts. Organised crime is primarily aimed at obtaining financial or other material benefits, while terrorism relies on violence-induced fears to change established legal and constitutional orders and policies. This does not exclude certain similarities and links between organised crime and terrorism, with crimes helping to finance terrorism and some terrorist movements being almost a front for organised crime. A crucial development in 2004 has been the enlargement of the European Union by ten new members on 1 May. There have been concerns that open borders would lead to more crime within the “old” European Union. It would seem this has not been the case, and that the number of suspects from eastern Europe may have remained stable or even has decreased in some instances. Information available so far supports the thesis that borders are more beneficial to criminals than to criminal justice and law enforcement. O r g a n i s e d c r i m e s i t u a t i o n r e p o r t 2 0 0 5 European countries share many common features and values, but at the same time also reflect asymmetries in terms of human development and governance. Such differences are likely to persist and will favour organised crime. Corruption remains a key issue in Europe and an important factor supporting organised crime as well as economic crime. In 2005, more reports on corruption within the private sector have been noted. Attempts by criminals to exercise undue influence on political actors is not a new phenomenon, but gain in significance as regulatory risks increase, leading to more economic crime that may go undetected. Thus, concerns about the impact of corruption on democracy in Europe are likely to move higher on the European agenda in the near future; and increasing attention should be paid to the question of “political finances” – including the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns – and the question of political corruption in general. Globalisation will continue to facilitate organised crime, and in particular economic crime at transnational levels, if no adequate safeguards are put in place. The capacity of national governments to respond to transnational and rapidly changing challenges is limited. Concerted efforts at European and international levels are required. In 2004/2005, measures were taken to further reinforce the international framework for the control of organised and other forms of serious crime. For example, three new treaties were opened for signature by the Council of Europe in May 2005: The Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS 196) The Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS 197) The Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS 198). An increasing number of tools is thus available, but they will only show the desired impact if they are fully ratified and efficiently implemented by member States. CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES Organised crime in Europe takes many forms and involves a large variety of criminal activities. However, there are certain crime markets which are common to and considered to be major threats in most European countries: 1.