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Financial Investigations Into Wildlife Crime

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Financial Investigations Into Wildlife Crime FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO WILDLIFE CRIME Produced by the ECOFEL The Egmont Group (EG) is a global organization of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). The Egmont Group Secretariat (EGS) is based in Canada and provides strategic, administrative, and other support to the overall activities of the Egmont Group, the Egmont Committee, the Working Groups as well as the Regional Groups. The Egmont Centre of FIU Excellence and Leadership (ECOFEL), active since April 2018, is an operational arm of the EG and is fully integrated into the EGS in Canada. The ECOFEL is mandated to develop and deliver capacity building and technical assistance projects and programs related to the development and enhancement of FIU capabilities, excellence and leadership. ECOFEL IS FUNDED THROUGH THE FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF UKAID AND SWISS CONFEDERATION This publication is subject to copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission and consent from the Egmont Group Secretariat. Request for permission to reproduce all or part of this publication should be made to: THE EGMONT GROUP SECRETARIAT Tel: +1-416-355-5670 Fax: +1-416-929-0619 E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2020 by the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units ECOFEL 1 Table of Contents List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 9 Objectives ................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 10 Key Definitions .......................................................................................................... 11 Legal Framework ....................................................................................................... 14 Key Species .......................................................................................................................... 16 Key Industries ....................................................................................................................... 17 Hunting/Eco-tourism ................................................................................................. 18 Timber ....................................................................................................................... 18 Transportation and Shipping .................................................................................... 19 Financial .................................................................................................................... 19 Traditional Medicine ................................................................................................. 19 Exotic Pet Trade ........................................................................................................ 20 Trinkets and Jewellery ............................................................................................... 20 Taxidermy ................................................................................................................. 20 Zoos/Breeding Facilities ............................................................................................ 21 Food/restaurants ....................................................................................................... 21 Fashion ...................................................................................................................... 21 Art and Décor ............................................................................................................ 21 Supply Chain ........................................................................................................................ 22 Geographic Supply Chain ......................................................................................... 22 Actors Supply Chain .................................................................................................. 23 Linking Financial Crimes to the Actor Supply Chain ................................................. 25 Concealment Methods .............................................................................................. 26 Payment Methods ..................................................................................................... 26 Links to Other Crimes ........................................................................................................... 29 Drug Offences ........................................................................................................... 29 Corruption ................................................................................................................. 30 Terrorist Financing .................................................................................................... 31 Illegal Weapons Trade .............................................................................................. 31 AML/CFT Relevance ............................................................................................................. 32 AML/CFT Legislation ................................................................................................ 33 Advantages of Utilising the AML framework ............................................................. 34 Risk Assessments .................................................................................................................. 36 Identifying the Financial Flows of Wildlife Crime ................................................................. 42 Suspicious Transaction Reports ................................................................................. 43 ECOFEL 2 STR Analysis .............................................................................................................. 45 Expanding Perpetrator Profiles ................................................................................. 47 Asset Recovery .......................................................................................................... 49 Information Dissemination to Law Enforcement Agencies ....................................... 51 Challenges to Conducting Financial Investigations ............................................................. 51 Interagency Cooperation ..................................................................................................... 52 Cooperation Mechanisms ......................................................................................... 53 Challenges to Interagency Cooperation ................................................................... 60 International Cooperation .................................................................................................... 60 FIU Cooperation ........................................................................................................ 60 Information Sharing Networks .................................................................................. 61 Initiatives ................................................................................................................... 62 Challenges to International Cooperation .................................................................. 63 Recommended Practices ...................................................................................................... 64 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 65 Annexes ................................................................................................................................ 67 Annex A: List of Participating Agencies .................................................................... 67 Annex B: FATF 40 Recommendations ..................................................................... 71 Annex C: FATF IWT Indicators for Financial Institutions ........................................... 74 Reference Lists ..................................................................................................................... 78 . ECOFEL 3 List of Boxes The Role of the CITES Management Authorities .................................................. 12 Rhino Horn Trafficking and Hunting in Poland ...................................................... 18 Online Wildlife Trafficking ..................................................................................... 27 Joint Parallel Financial Investigation to Dismantle Reptile Smuggling Network ... 28 Determinants of Prices .......................................................................................... 32 The Lacey Act – U.S. Legislation ........................................................................... 33 Co-mingling Legitimate and Illegitimate Products ............................................... 45 Wildlife Trafficking Smurfing Case Study .............................................................. 47 Access to Databases ............................................................................................. 48 Managing Seized Wildlife Products ................................................................... 50 Abalone Poaching Network
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