Financial Investigations Program.


MENU TITLE: Financial Investigations Fact Sheet
Series: BJA
Published: November 1995
5 pages
8138 bytes

Bureau of Justice Assistance Fact Sheet

November 1995

Financial Investigations Program

Removing the profits and proceeds from the sale of
illegal drugs is an effective part of the law
enforcement strategy to disrupt and eliminate drug
trafficking conspiracies. Along with arresting and
prosecuting the drug trafficker, apprehending and
prosecuting the white collar professional who
knowingly facilitates money laundering is
considered a strong deterrent to other
professionals contemplating similar illegal
activities.

A powerful tool, investigating the financial
aspects of a narcotics trafficking conspiracy
requires specialized efforts and resources. Until
recently, despite considerable progress made at the
Federal level, State and local law enforcement
agencies seldom possessed the personnel, expertise,
and intelligence data necessary to conduct these
unique investigations. Although many States modeled
forfeiture and money laundering statutes after
Federal laws, only a few State and local agencies
used these sanctions effectively because of
inadequate financial investigative resources.

Background

The Financial Investigations (Finvest) Program was
created in 1989 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice to help
State and local law enforcement agencies implement
specialized initiatives to investigate and
prosecute narcotics-related financial crimes. The
Finvest Program began as a supplemental component
of the Organized Crime Narcotics (OCN) Trafficking
Enforcement Program, which was initially funded by
BJA in 1986. The OCN Program supported Federal,
State, and local agencies in a multiagency
enforcement and prosecution response against
targeted narcotics offenders. The program
emphasized shared management of resources and joint
operational decisionmaking.

Financial investigation components were first added
to selected OCN projects in 1987 to more
effectively disrupt narcotics trafficking
conspiracies by attacking their financial
underpinnings. Subsequently, BJA created Finvest as
a separate funding demonstration program for
financial investigations. It selected Finvest
project sites and made direct grant awards to
Finvest projects.

Key Program Elements

The Finvest Program focuses on investigations that:

o Determine how funding is raised for the illegal
purchase of drugs.
o Identify who provides the funding.
o Determine how profits from illegal drug
transactions are laundered.
o Identify profits resulting from illegal drug
trafficking.
o Identify assets acquired from illegal drug
trafficking.
o Seize assets gained from illegal drug trafficking
under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization
Act, the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Act, and
similar statutes.

Program Strategy and Goals

The Finvest Program strategy is twofold:

o It promotes a multiagency enforcement response
and prosecutorial strategy against major narcotics
trafficking conspiracies operating throughout a
multijurisdictional area. These conspiracies are
targeted for financial investigation, which
includes mobilization of the human and technical
resources required to pursue the financial
investigation, prosecution of individuals involved
in the conspiracies, and active involvement of
agencies needed to pursue the conspiracies.

o It also establishes a formal mechanism whereby
investigative and prosecutorial resources can be
effectively allocated, managed, and focused on
targeted offenses and offenders. This management
system oversees the shared coordination and
direction of personnel, funding, equipment, and
technical resources for investigating and
prosecuting targeted conspirators. 

As a part of the shared management system, cases
are assigned for investigation and prosecution
after a coordinated effort to identify, select, and
prioritize them. The management group then
identifies and approves the personnel, financial,
and technical resources needed to effectively
investigate the targeted offense or offender. On an
ongoing basis, the management group monitors case
progress and takes appropriate actions regarding
investigative activity and case referrals,
redirection, and closure.

Finvest Program goals include:

o Successful investigation, prosecution, and
conviction of major multijurisdictional drug
trafficking conspirators.

o Recovery of criminal assets, including assets
acquired with funds traceable to criminal activity,
assets used in committing the crime, contraband,
and stolen property.

o Reduction of fragmented and duplicative
investigations and prosecutions.

o Increased use of civil remedies.

o Cooperation and coordination of efforts, as
appropriate, between Finvest projects and
BJA-funded statewide drug prosecution projects.

Training and Technical Assistance

In addition to funding the model demonstration
projects, BJA also provides technical assistance
and training workshops and seminars. The workshops
and seminars are coordinated and conducted for BJA
by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research
(IIR) through the BJA-funded Center for Task Force
Training (CenTF) Program. IIR is a nonprofit
organization that specializes in law enforcement
and criminal justice issues.

The 2-day Financial Investigative Techniques
Training Workshop is a basic-level course designed
to provide law enforcement officers with the skills
necessary to conduct investigations of
money-related crimes. No specialized fiscal or
accounting skills are required for enrollment.
After completing the course, the officer will be
able to access various sources of financial
information, use techniques to conduct covert and
overt financial inquiries, establish probable cause
for financial search warrants, locate and identify
hidden assets, find and interpret documentary
evidence of financial transactions, and construct a
source-and-application-of-funds schedule. The
workshop covers the following topics:

o Development of overt and covert investigative
skills.
o Use of public record sources.
o Location of hidden assets.
o Procedures for asset seizure and forfeiture.

In 1996, the Financial Investigative Techniques
Training Workshop schedule is as follows:

January 31-Feb.1 -- Atlanta, GA
February 28-29 -- Las Vegas, NV
March 20-21 -- Shreveport, LA
April 3-4 -- Tallahassee, FL
May 1-2 -- Albany, NY
May 30-31 -- Springfield, MA
June 5-6 -- Cleveland, OH
June 19-20 -- San Francisco, CA
July 10-11 -- Salt Lake City, UT
August 7-8 -- Missoula, MT
September 11-12 -- Portland, OR
September 25-26 -- Charleston, WV
October 9-10 -- Little Rock, AR
November 6-7 -- Topeka, KS

Additional Publications

The BJA-funded monograph Narcotics-Related
Financial Investigations: Lessons Learned From the
Finvest Program Model recounts the origin and
strategy of the Finvest Program, as well as its
desired and actual operational results; describes
briefly each of the Finvest projects; and addresses
project initiation and development, presenting
lessons learned from the program experience. The
monograph is intended to serve as an implementation
guide for initiating similar efforts to investigate
financial aspects of narcotics crimes.

This publication (NCJ 148215) can be obtained by
contacting the BJA Clearinghouse at the telephone
number or address provided below. 

For Further Information

For more information about the program or workshop
registration, contact:

Institute for Intergovernmental Research
2888 Remington Green
P.O. Box 12729
Tallahassee, FL 32317
Tel: 1-800-446-0912 or 1-904-385-0600

For other program information, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
Tel: 1-800-688-4252
Fax: 1-301-251-5212
Internet: look@ncjrs.aspensys.com

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center
Tel: 1-800-421-6770