OSCE-supported Good Governance Resource Centre organizes practical exercise on investigating money laundering in Turkmenistan
ASHGABAT, 26 June 2014 – Effective investigation techniques in combatting money laundering were the focus of an OSCE-supported training course that concluded in Ashgabat today.
The three-day exercise was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat together with the OSCE-supported Good Governance Resource Centre, which commenced its activities in the premises of the Finance Ministry of Turkmenistan on 1 May 2014.
The event brought together officials from the Finance Intelligence Unit of the Finance Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of National Security, the State Customs Service, the State Tax Service and the Justice Ministry. The practical course is designed to promote inter-agency co-operation.
“The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat is pleased to support a pioneering event organized by the newly-established Good Governance Centre,” said Ambassador Ivo Petrov, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. “It is particularly important that the event is held in an innovative and practical format: participants from different agencies were able to practice jointly resolving a mock money laundering case.”
As well as working together to investigate a mock case of money laundering, participants on the first day of the course learnt from Serbian experts about the existing types of financial investigation units and their role in combating money laundering. They also learnt how to effectively use databases to counter this crime.
“We firmly believe that this exercise and other future activities of the Good Governance Resource Centre will prove to be an effective tool to contribute to the enhanced expertise on good governance issues in Turkmenistan,” said Petrov.