The Republic of Srpska

Today, with the support of European Union Police Assistance for Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUPA4BiH), the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior, together with the representatives of judiciary, the Republic of Srpska Tax Administration and police officers organized a round table where the Instruction on actions of police officers in the implementation of financial investigations was presented. 

By adopting the Instruction, drafted by the police officers of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior with the support of EUPA4BIH, the compliance with international standards is further improved in the field of preventing money laundering and financing terrorism, including the standards of FATF and MONEYVAL, as well as the activities that refer to strengthening financial investigations, seizing property and the access based on risk assessment within reform processes of BIH on its path of European integration.

‘The document represents a significant step toward further strengthening of the capacities of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior in countering organized crime, money laundering and financing terrorism, and, for the first time, in a unique and comprehensive manner, defines the activities of the police officers in the field of financial investigations. The Instruction establishes a unique operational and methodological framework for implementing financial investigations, with clearly defined obligations of police officers when it comes to collecting, documenting, and data analysis that may point to the existence of proceeds of crime and financial flows related to criminal offences’, said the head of Department for financial investigations and prevention of money laundering, Crime Police Administration of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior, Mr Rajko Ćuk. 

He also pointed out that the Instruction defined systematic and proactive use of international cooperation in all phases of a financial investigation when there is a foreign element, including the international legal aid mechanisms and operational police cooperation for the purpose of timely collection of data on property, financial transactions and related people from abroad.