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Supported by Eurojust, as well as Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) and the European Banking Federation (EBF) the second coordinated European Money Mule Action (EMMA) culminated in the arrest of 178 individuals. Law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities from Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and United States Secret Service participated in the international operation.

Across Europe, 580 money mules were identified and the national law enforcement agencies interviewed 380 suspects in the course of the action week (14-18 November 2016), with overall reported losses amounting to EUR 23 million. During the week of the joint action, Eurojust and Europol set up a command post and a judicial coordination centre to assist the national authorities, cross-check all incoming data against the databases and collect intelligence for further analysis. Europol also deployed mobile offices to Italy and Romania. The successful hit on this wide-spread crime was supported by 106 banks and private partners.

The second EMMA action week is the continuation of a project conducted under the umbrella of the EMPACT Cybercrime Payment Fraud Operational Action Plan [1] and was prepared through two coordination meetings at Eurojust and one at Europol. This priority area targets perpetrators of online and payment card fraud. From all reported money mule transactions in the scope of this operation, 95% were linked to cyber-enabled criminal activity.

Building on the success of the first EMMA operation, the second coordinated action banded together new partners among the police, judicial bodies as well as the banking sector. Starting today, the fight against money muling is underscored by a four-day prevention campaign in the participating countries. The multilingual communication campaign aims to raise awareness about the consequences of this crime both to the international, as well as the national audiences [3].

Michèle Coninsx, President of Eurojust, said: “To effectively tackle money mules, we need seamless cross-border cooperation among judicial and law enforcement authorities with the private actors. It is important to understand that money laundering may on the surface seem to be a small crime, but is orchestrated by organised crime groups, that is what we need to inform the public about. Therefore, the European Money Mule Action II is paramount to stop people being lured and recruited into aiding serious crime, to break this crime link, by being aware of who is behind this type of crime.”

Koen Hermans, Assistant to the National Member for the Netherlands, commented: “As money mules are an essential chain in every financial cybercrime criminal organisation, it is of the utmost importance to target these individuals as well. The critical success factor in this highly effective money mule action is the close cooperation between private, law enforcement and judicial actors, in order to deter offenders in Europe, and thereby reduce crime.”

Steven Wilson, Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, said: “The European Money Mule Action is a successful example of public-private cooperation at the closest level. The results of this second edition demonstrate a very strong connection between cybercrime and the illegal transactions identified. Law enforcement, judges and prosecutors working together with the banking partners can crack down on extensive criminal networks either knowingly acting as money mules or misusing people who are duped into facilitating financial and other forms of crime. Furthermore, education also remains a powerful tool for law enforcement: EMMA has now grown in participation, bringing the awareness campaign to a larger public.”

Keith Gross, Chair of the European Banking Federation Cyber Security Working Group, said: "EMMA is now seen as a benchmark and a prime example of how law enforcement agencies, the financial sector and other key stakeholders join forces in tackling the illegal activity of money muling across Europe. This initiative can only go from strength to strength as more and more countries participate strategically and operationally."

(Source: EUROJUST)

On 15 November, prosecutors from the Romanian Territorial Office Valcea of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), acting within a joint investigation team (JIT) set up with the support of Eurojust, carried out an operation concerning an organised crime group (OCG) specialised in computer fraud, forgery and money laundering. A total of 64 house searches were carried out and 64 suspects were brought to the Public Prosecutors Office in Romania for hearings. Twelve people have been arrested.

The OCG was suspected to have been formed in early 2015, and to have defrauded more than 1 000 people of EUR 4.5 million. Bank accounts were opened with false IDs.

The OCG members are suspected to have opened approximately 230 bank accounts abroad and 120 bank accounts in Romania.

The OCG operated on three levels:

The case was opened by the Romanian Desk at Eurojust ‎with the assistance and support of Germany, Poland, Italy and Hungary. Two coordination meetings were held and a JIT agreement was signed between DIICOT of Romania and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Bamberg, Germany, with logistical and financial support provided to the JIT by Eurojust. In parallel, mutual legal assistance requests were sent and facilitated by ‎Eurojust with the countries not involved in the JIT. Europol supported the operation by providing cross-matches of information.

 (Source: EUROJUST)

Fraud - definitionLaw enforcement and prosecution authorities from Germany and the Netherlands, supported by Eurojust and Europol, have dismantled a gang responsible for defrauding Member States of approximately €150 million in a joint action targeting VAT fraud. Nine individuals were arrested and 26 premises searched.

The coordinated action was initiated by the Prosecution Office for Serious Fraud and Environmental Crime in Zwolle and the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service in Almelo in the Netherlands, in close cooperation with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Augsburg and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office in Germany. In total, 11 territories were involved, including nine Member States.

This action is part of a large-scale investigation on organised VAT fraud named Operation Vertigo, formed by the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Eurojust and Europol.

Combating carousel fraud is an EU priority in the fight against serious and organised crime. Following the operation, Mr Michael Rauschenbach, Head of Operations for Serious and Organised Crime at Europol, said: “This action sends the clear message that Europol and its partners are determined to pursue criminals involved in organised VAT fraud. Europol strongly supports EU Member States’ investigations in this area and, for the past six years, has had a fully dedicated team of specialists to tackle this form of crime. Operation Vertigo is an example of how working in close cooperation with EU Member States and partners such as Eurojust from the early stages of the investigations achieves excellent results and operational successes. Europol will continue to offer its unique capabilities and full assistance to eradicate carousel fraud.”

Carousel fraud is financial fraud that is an abuse of the VAT system resulting in the fraudulent extraction of revenue. It may involve any type of standard-rated goods or services. As with acquisition fraud, goods or services are acquired zero-rates from the European Union, with the acquirer then going missing without accounting for the VAT due on the onward supply.

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