The Financial Intelligence Unit Annual Report 2019
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The Financial Intelligence Unit Annual Report 2019 Swedish Police Authority Content Preface ....................................................................................................3 The tasks and activities of the Financial Intelligence Unit ...4 The Financial Intelligence Unit in 2019 ........................................5 Money laundering ..............................................................................6 Characteristic modi operandi in 2019 .............................................8 BEC .......................................................................................................9 Vishing ................................................................................................10 Money laundering via online gambling accounts .......................11 Money laundering via real estate ...................................................11 Commercial money laundering ......................................................12 Cryptocurrency exchange agents ..........................................12 Commercial money laundering using a real estate agent’s escrow account ........................................13 Terrorist financing ............................................................................14 What constitutes terrorist offences and terrorist financing? .....14 What does terrorist financing look like? .......................................14 Cooperation ......................................................................................15 The international work of the Financial Intelligence Unit ......................................................16 goAML ..................................................................................................17 Black Wallet ........................................................................................18 FinTech brings changes to financial markets ................................18 Project Black Wallet ..........................................................................18 New legislation .................................................................................20 New legislation in 2020 ...................................................................20 Request to the Government ...........................................................21 Provisions on reporting in goAML .................................................21 The Financial Intelligence Unit in numbers .............................22 Restraint orders .................................................................................24 Filed reports .......................................................................................24 FAQ ........................................................................................................25 The Financial Intelligence Unit Annual Report 2019 Preface Preface In 2019, money laundering and terrorist financing In 2020, the recently implemented IT system was frequently discussed in the media and among goAML will start to produce results in the form law enforcement agencies and business operators. of more numerous and more thorough analyses of The discussions centred on money laundering scan- received money laundering reports. This will improve dals and the resulting need for stronger measures to our strategic ability to detect modi operandi and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. trends as well as our operational capability to detect The Financial Intelligence Unit functions as a hub for various money laundering schemes. To a larger extent such countermeasures and constantly strives to be at than before, we will respond to business operators’ the forefront. Extensive work is carried out to discov- growing need for feedback. In addition, we are cur- er suspicious activities at an early stage and to give rently cooperating with several business operators feedback to those parts of society where they may be and supervisory bodies to increase our information taking place. exchange at the operational level. This higher level of Reporting to the Financial Intelligence Unit on ambition makes it necessary to recruit approximately suspicious activities increased in 2019. Due to this 20 new employees before the beginning of 2021, main- reporting, we were able to issue restraint orders for ly intelligence officers and analysts. more money than ever before – money that was being The Financial Intelligence Unit continues to laundered but never reached the intended recipients. improve its ability to stay at the forefront and func- In many cases, the money was returned to the owners. tion as the hub for combating money laundering and The Financial Intelligence Unit, by tracing finan- terrorist financing. cial activities among actors involved in serious crime and processing money laundering cases, made an important contribution to the Swedish Police Author- ity’s overall efforts to counter serious violent crime, such as shootings, explosions and international cases concerning trafficking in human beings and drugs. The Financial Intelligence Unit is active in all of the regional intelligence centres in Sweden, along with eleven other authorities. In 2019, the Financial Intel- ligence Unit worked on more than 20 cross-agency money laundering cases, which originated in for example frauds, drug offences and environmental Mats Löfving offences. Head of the National Operations Department 3 The Financial Intelligence Unit Annual Report 2019 The tasks and activities of the Financial Intelligence Unit The tasks and activities of the Financial Intelligence Unit The Financial Intelligence Unit is a part of the Swed- be independent in receiving, analysing and dissemi- ish Police Authority’s intelligence service and is nating information in its area of responsibility. This assigned to the National Operations Department. means that we express ourselves clearly and that our This means that we become active at an early stage assessments of current information and intelligence in cases of potential organised crime, specifically sus- are based on our specific role as financial intelli- pected money laundering or terrorist financing. The gence unit. However, independent does not mean Financial Intelligence Unit uses the guidelines issued alone – legislative developments usually leads to more by the police’s management to prioritise tip-offs, exchange of information, increased levels of coopera- questions, requests for assistance and reports on sus- tion and more efficient routines, and this is outside the picious transactions that are received by the Unit. As control of the Financial Intelligence Unit. Demands an intelligence service, a basic task is also to detect for independent assessments and compliance with trends and developments in money laundering and security and privacy provisions have to be balanced terrorist financing that may influence other police with national and international cooperation. At the activities or cause significant financial risks in gener- same time, we need to form a part of the legal system, al. We are supposed to provide early warnings within from crime prevention to investigations support. a well-defined but large area of operations. At the moment, the Financial Intelligence Unit has The Financial Intelligence Unit must adhere to a approximately 35 employees, but extensive recruiting number of laws, regulations and EU legal acts. The was initiated in 2019 to strengthen our operational regulatory framework states that the Financial Intel- and strategic capabilities. The unit is composed of ligence Unit is a part of the Swedish Police Authority four groups, with an even distribution of men and and organised as a section (the Police Authority func- women. Approximately one third of the employees tions as the financial intelligence unit), but also that are police officers and two thirds are civilian employ- access to the money laundering register is restricted ees with educational and professional experience to employees at the Unit. The regulatory framework from various kinds of investigative and analytical stipulates that the Financial Intelligence Unit must work. 4 The Financial Intelligence Unit Annual Report 2019 The Financial Intelligence Unit in 2019 The Financial Intelligence Unit in 2019 “For the first time, the number of reports on suspicious transactions exceeded 20,000. The Financial Intelligence Unit cooperated with other Swedish law enforcement actors in more than 600 cases.” For the first time, the number of reports on suspi- ist financing and money laundering risks in the Fin- cious transactions exceeded 20,000. The Financial Tech 2 sector. Intelligence Unit cooperated with other Swedish law During the year, the coordination function for enforcement actors in more than 600 cases, with inter- prevention of money laundering and terrorist financ- national cooperation in more than 500 cases. The ing3 published a national risk assessment of money Financial Intelligence Unit took part in two major laundering and terrorist financing. Along with other incident operations that received national attention: actors, the Financial Intelligence Unit worked on the operation Dimma, which concerned vishing1 fraud, risk assessment. and operation Rimfrost, which is still ongoing and Feedback, guidance and information to business aims to combat shootings and explosions within operators were also central themes during 2019. organised crime. During the autumn, the Financial Intelligence Unit During 2019, the Financial Intelligence Unit arranged a workshop aimed at all business