Cresting the learning curve

How do Police at the frontline interpret the suspicious transaction reports that money laundering reporting officers send through to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) Economic Crime Branch? What do they look for and exactly how helpful to solving crime are the disclosures that firms make? These questions were explored during the Metropolitan Police Service Financial Intelligence Development Unit’s fifth annual feedback forum at New Scotland Yard last November. The event, sponsored by Carratu International, the investigations company, attracted more than a hundred money laundering specialists, from banks, financial advisers, casinos and bureaux de change, who came to learn from and share their experiences – ‘expectations, limitations and disappointments’ – with the Metropolitan Police officers who receive and handle 25% of the STRs filed in England and Wales. Timon Molloy concludes his report on the highly instructive proceedings.

Case work

Delegates were assigned to small workshop groups, each led by a police officer, to examine some true-life but anonymised STRs received by NCIS. MLB joined the table chaired by DS Sheila Stewart.