Dubai - As part of initiatives to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, a training course on money laundering was held in Dubai for 60 personnel from the UAE Ministry of the Interior, as well as members of the seven police forces, the judiciary, and the Financial Intelligence Unit. The training exercise, which included a welcoming address from the Italian Consul in Dubai, was organized over five days by the Office for the Coordination and Planning of the Police Forces, in synergy with the Italian Security Expert, in response to a specific request from the Emirati liaison officer.
During the course, the Italian delegation, comprising representatives from the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior (International Relations Service - Office for Coordination and Planning of the Police Forces, Central Directorate of Criminal Police, Central Directorate for Forensic Police and Cybersecurity, Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, and Central Anti-Crime Directorate of the State Police), the General Commands of the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza, engaged with the Emirati trainees through their best skills and experiences on various aspects of the law enforcement system, training activities, and activities related to combating money laundering. This fostered a productive dialogue to form the basis for future developments in mutual collaboration in this specific field.
The training activities included seven sessions in which Italian instructors explained the Italian regulatory system as a necessary tool to tackle illicit assets, particularly those of transnational organized crime. They delved into topics such as the prevention of money laundering in the fight against mafia-style organized crime, the growing phenomena of fraud (Romantic Scam, Sex Extortions, online trading, e-commerce, etc.) through the use of artificial intelligence and new technologies, the "follow the money" approach as a key strategy to trace illicit money flows through global financial circuits, the use of the Asset Recovery Office as a tool to locate and freeze proceeds from criminal activities, the evolution of Italian legislation on gambling and betting, the technical details regarding cryptocurrencies, methods of handling, seizure, and confiscation of virtual assets, with a focus on international collaboration that allows access to a wide range of financial and banking data, crucial for reconstructing complex money laundering schemes.
The event received praise from the Ministry of the Interior and the Emirati delegation, who expressed particular gratitude for the Italian expertise, excellent organization, and coordination capacity of the police forces ensured by the Department of Public Security of the Italian Ministry of the Interior. They also expressed hope for the continuation of training collaboration to create and share experiences and best practices and consolidate similar capabilities for sector experts. (9colonne)