Over 35 representatives from the General Prosecution Office, Economic Crime Sections at the District Prosecution Offices, the Albanian State Police, General Directorate for the Prevention of Money Laundering, Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority, Central Bank of Albania participated in a training on the Effectiveness of money laundering investigation and prosecution in Albania which was organised online. This training was organised within the framework of the EU/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey Phase II – Action against Economic Crime in Albania (AEC-AL).

The participants were introduced to various concepts, principles and strategies relating to financial investigation and asset confiscation. In line with international best practices, the participants learned how to implement domestic legislation to financially investigate criminal cases and how to restrain and confiscate assets both at the national level and using international cooperation. The investigators and prosecutors also benefited from the discussion of the approach provided by the ‘Guidelines on asset tracing for purposes of seizure and confiscation’ prepared by the Project. The participants followed a case study which enhanced the learning experience.

A representative from the General Prosecution Office of Albania stated that the skills and knowledge acquired during the training are crucial for improving the track record of final confiscations and convictions for money laundering cases in Albania, and pointed out that the organisation of a joint training with representatives from different institutions will increase the inter-agency cooperation and the effectiveness of prosecutions.