The Action “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in Central Asia organised a four-day training activity in cooperation with the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Academy). The activity aimed at supporting  the capacities of the relevant competent authorities to conduct effective training activities on financial investigations to prevent and fight economic crimes.

The training activity also addressed the recommendations of the GRECO Evaluation Report on Kazakhstan (March 2022) regarding the co-ordination among all law enforcement authorities combating corruption. Prosecutors and judges were provided further clarifications as to ensure their efficient handling of cases linked to corruption offences, financial investigations and their links with other offences, such as money laundering and organised crime.

The training was attended by 16 representatives of the Academy, Financial Monitoring Agency, Anti-Corruption Agency and the General Prosecutor’s Office. The trainees improved their knowledge and skills to plan and conduct effective financial investigations. The activity also enhanced their understanding of financial investigation as a process and as a multi-stakeholder endeavour requiring co-ordination and cooperation among various agencies. Participants also learned good practices in managing different phases of the financial investigation process by working on real case scenarios in an interactive learning environment.

This activity was organised by the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2024, which is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan).