The European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) at Europol enhances Europol’s operational and strategic support by preventing and combating financial and economic crime in the European Union. EFECC promotes the consistent use of financial investigations and asset forfeiture while forging alliances with public and private entities.
EFECC, founded in June 2020, is Europol’s answer to the growing threats to the economy and integrity of our financial systems. These threats include money laundering, corruption, widespread counterfeiting, fraud and tax fraud schemes that target individuals, countries and companies.
EFECC supports law enforcement (and relevant public authorities) in their international financial crime investigations and aims at improving the recovery of criminal assets.
Key objectives
EFECC provides direct, vertical support to EU Member States and other strategic and operational partners, while also working closely with the other operational centres at Europol. In particular, EFECC seeks to:
- provide operational and analytical support to Europol partners and Member States in investigations relating to financial and economic crime, in particular relating to corruption, counterfeiting, forgery of money, fraud, tax fraud and money laundering.
- support Europol partners and Member States in their efforts to trace, identify, freeze and seize criminal assets.
- assist all competent authorities of Member States in fulfilling their mandate (e.g. by offering criminal analysis etc.)
- provide expertise in the economic and financial crime areas of EFECC.
- provide strategic support and engage with major relevant public and private stakeholders.
Operational highlights
- Operation Silver Axe VII, coordinated by EFECC, took place between 25 January and 25 April 2022 and involved law enforcement authorities from 31 countries (25 EU Member States and six third party countries). This is Europol’s recurrent operation to fight the illicit production and trafficking of illegal pesticides. As well as targeting illegal pesticides, new trends emerging on the EU black market for plant protection products were also identified. The operational activities of Silver Axe VII focused on ports, airports and other entry points where the import and export of illegal and counterfeit pesticides could be detected. These actions led to ten arrests, the seizure of 1 150 tons of illegal and counterfeit pesticides and the targeting of a factory where pesticides were being counterfeited.
- In April 2022, EFECC initiated Operation Oscar, along with the EU Member States, Eurojust and Frontex. As part of this operation, EFECC facilitates the exchange of information and intelligence and provides operational support in a number of financial investigations targeting criminal assets owned by individuals and legal entities sanctioned in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Operation Oscar also aims to support criminal investigations by Member States in relation to the circumvention of EU-imposed trade and economic sanctions. The operation is ongoing, and so far, more than EUR 2 billion in assets have been seized.
- In September 2022, one of Europe’s biggest money launderers was arrested in Malaga, Spain as part of Operation Whitewall. The investigation was initiated by the Spanish Guardia Civil and was rapidly brought to Europol due to its international nature. EFECC then provided analytical and operational support. During the course of the investigation, it is believed that the suspects (linked to the Kinahan clan) laundered over EUR 200 million. The scope of this criminal activity was worldwide.
- In November 2022, Europol supported the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), in cooperation with law enforcement agencies in 14 EU Member States, in exposing one of the biggest VAT fraud schemes ever investigated in the EU. As part of Operation Admiral, a link was found between a company in Portugal that was selling electronic devices and close to 9 000 other legal entities and more than 600 natural persons located in different countries. In the course of this operation, 24 suspects were arrested and EUR 67 million in criminal assets were seized.
Structure
EFECC comprises two units, the Operations Unit and the Expertise and Stakeholder Management Unit.
The Operations Unit encompasses:
- the Economic Crime Team, which is responsible for VAT fraud, excise fraud and other fraudulent schemes;
- the Financial Crime Team, which is responsible for money laundering, corruption, asset tracing and freezing, and horizontal support to other Europol crime centres;
- the Counterfeit Crime Team, which is responsible for online and offline intellectual property rights violations and the forgery of money.
The Expertise and Stakeholder Management Unit has an Expertise and Policy Team and a Stakeholder Management Team. As part of the services they provide, these teams seek to:
- support EFECC operations from a strategic perspective by maintaining relations and developing expertise with major stakeholders (e.g. customs authorities and financial intelligence units);
- ensure the coordination and day-to-day performance (as a secretariat) for law enforcement and judiciary networks such as the Association of Law Enforcement Forensic Accountants, the Anti-Money Laundering Operational Network and the Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network;
- provide policy input and expert advice on the latest developments related to financial and economic crime, both within the EU and internationally;
- provide training.
Working together
EFECC engages with a number of relevant partners in its field of expertise. Besides law enforcement agencies, some of its main partners include:
- judicial agencies like Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office;
- EU bodies and institutions like the European Commission (for example DG FISMA, DG HOME, DG TAXUD), the EU Parliament and the Council of the EU;
- international organisations like the Financial Action Task Force and the World Customs Organisation;
- working groups such as the Financial Intelligence Unit and Asset Recovery Office Platform or the newly established network of terrorist financing investigators.
EFECC runs the Europol Financial Intelligence Public Private Partnership project (EFIPPP). Created in 2017, EFIPPP tests and increases the possibilities for cross-border cooperation and information exchange between Europol, competent authorities (including Financial Intelligence Units and Law Enforcement Agencies) and regulated financial service entities such as banks. It is the first transnational information sharing mechanism ever established in the field of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing. By the end of 2021, EFIPPP brought together 79 institutions spanning over 18 EU and non-EU countries, a significant development from the 28 institutions (8 countries) registered when the initiative was launched in 2017.
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