Investigation of Money Laundering Manual

The Money Laundering Investigation Manual is prepared under initiative of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and was intended for use by officials of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), State Agency of National Security (SANS), the National Investigation Service(NIS), the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and Bulgarian Commission for the Establishment of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity (CEPACA). The Manual was written by practitioners, representing the main stakeholders, and CSD experts, who share the idea that it is necessary for all institutions involved in the investigation of money laundering to work fully and cooperatively for the indisputable proof of the crime. The importance of international legal assistance for gathering undisputed evidence has been highlighted.
The manual contains: a brief historical overview of the phenomenon of money laundering and phases in the development of the international and national legal framework to prevent and counter this subsequent criminal activity and its relation to crime generating large profits (drugs, trafficking, corruption, terrorism, crimes, etc.), the operational phase and the pre-trial proceedings in the investigation, the identification of the property acquired from criminal activity. Special attention is paid to:
- the means of proof and the means of proof (including the use of special intelligence means),
- the international legal cooperation, given the cross-border nature of money laundering,
- the basic money laundering schemes, presented in three phases - import / export of dirty money to / from Bulgaria; preparation for investment; integration into the legal economy.

The Manual was designed to give clear guidance to all institutions and units dealing with anti-money laundering and to facilitate their work and interaction. In addition, the annexes attached to the manual provide the users with concrete practical information and data, templates of letters, requests incl. letters rogatory, necessary contact details in the country and abroad, sample indications of suspicious financial operations, relevant legal definitions etc.

The manual, together with its annexes and templates (directly related to the operative work), was aimed to serve as a practitioner's guide in particular to prosecutors and investigation officers. Although the target audience is mainly those with a law enforcement background, including prosecutors (the court process is not directly covered), it targeted also to raise awareness among other practitioners in the field, such as lawyers, financial advisors, and investigative journalists.

The compilation of the manual was carried out with the financial support of the MATRA KAP program at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sofia.
The new updated edition will be funded by Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme.
Good contacts and cooperation with institutions involved in anti money laundering makes the practice sustained also in terms of resources.

CSD supports many initiatives related to prevention and countering money laundering especially in the area of awareness raising, trainings, workshops, discussion on legislative amendments etc. The ongoing activity on drafting the new manual is based on the previous experience and will serve as future tool in this context.

There are two important main self-assessment mechanisms - the feedback from institutions using the Manual and the annual CSD reports evaluating practice-related events. All publications in the area as well as information on all related activities is available on the CSD web site both in English and Bulgarian.

Multi-agency cooperation at the national institutions’ level and across civil sector: State Agency of National Security (SANS), Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Commission for the Establishment of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity (CEPACA), Ministry of Interior, Directorate General to combat organised crime, Criminal Law Experts and NGOs.

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Annual Reports of the Centre for the Study of Democracy: www.csd.bg
Media coverage: http://www.csd.bg/artShowbg.php?id=15030

- www.csd.bg
- Policy Brief No 21: Investigation of Money Laundering: An Institutional Approach (2010) - http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=15028
- Policy Brief 69: Money Laundering in Bulgaria: State of Affairs and Policy Implications (2017) -http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=1801
- Tracing Illegal Assets, A Practitioner’s Guide, International Centre for Asset Recovery (translated in Bulgarian, published in 2107 by CSD, available at: http://www.csd.bg/artShowbg.php?id=17968)

Ambassador Karel van Kesteren, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bulgaria, stressed during the presentation of the handbook that it was the first of its kind in Bulgaria and was the result of the long-term cooperation between the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
Since 2010 the manual is assisting authorities in enhancing their capacities to investigate and prove money laundering and predicate crime. The manual address mainly the pre-investigative and investigative stages as well as the mutual legal assistance process and provides. It continues to serve also as a training material.

Practitioners dealing with money laundering and related criminality that generates large profits are benefiting from the manual in their daily work. It serves also as a guide in the institutional interaction and in applying mutual legal assistance.

The manual and all related activities were cost-efficient and its main objectives are achieved as a result of the well-developed partnership between stakeholders (civil society organisation and state authorities).

A wide range of practitioners, legal experts and lecturers benefited from the positive impact – better understanding of the specificities of money laundering and the clear guidance.

The sustainability of the practice is enhanced through the subsequent publications, workshops and discussions organised by the CSD. Related to the manual two CSD Policy Briefs were published on the CSD web site. The Manual will be followed by a new manual to be published in 2017.
This allows for the stakeholders to get familiar with the dynamic of the anti money laundery process. A recent example was the training in May 2017, which involved a number of actors from law enforcement, prosecution and the civil sector. Among the trainers were representatives of Bulgarian stakeholders as well as experts from the Basel Institute on Governance, International Centre for Asset Recovery.

The practice involves a lot of partners in the anti-money laundering process such as: State Agency of National Security (SANS), Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Commission for the Establishment of Property Acquired from Criminal Activity (CEPACA), Ministry of Interior, Directorate General to combat organised crime, Criminal Law Experts and NGOs.
The current inclusion of new partners from other countries, e.g. Basel Institute on Governance, International Centre for Asset Recovery, contributes to enrichment of investigative, evidence-gathering and counteracting methods, and giving high convertibility to practice improves cooperation among national and international institutions.