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Law360, London (June 5, 2020, 1:31 PM BST) -- The European Union's law enforcement agency launched a financial and economic crime unit on Friday, which it said will help member states tackle a surge in criminal activity during the coronavirus pandemic.
Europol said its European financial crime center will promote investigations that crack down on criminals by targeting their profits. (AP)
The unit, known as the EFECC, is designed to strengthen Europol's ability to help member states prevent criminals and fraudsters from profiting from economic hardship, including the crisis caused by the coronavirus.
The unit will support financial investigators across the bloc as they track down illicit profits that have been laundered through organized crime, which earns criminal gangs approximately €110 billion ($124 billion) a year in Europe.
"The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has weakened our economy and created new vulnerabilities from which crime can emerge," Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol, said.
The unit "will strengthen Europol's ability to support member states' and partner countries' law enforcement authorities in fighting the criminals seeking to profit from economic hardship," she added.
Fraudsters and criminals have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by exploiting consumers and defrauding public funding, Europol said. Law enforcement authorities have to follow money trails to disrupt and deter criminals that are abusing the crisis.
Britons have lost over £4.6 million ($5.8 million) to fraudsters seeking to exploit fears over the pandemic, figures published by the national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime showed at the end of May.
Europol said Friday that it estimates that 98.9% of criminal profits are not confiscated by authorities. More than 5,000 organized crime groups are under investigation in Europe.
The new unit, which sits within Europol, will employ 65 analysts that will gather and share intelligence, the EU law enforcement agency said. The EFECC aims to ensure that authorities take a coordinated approach to financial investigations across the bloc.
"The center we are launching today will help step up financial investigations across the EU," Ylva Johansson, a European commissioner, said.
"Financial and economic crime harms us all, and doesn't stop at national borders. And it's often a key activity of organized crime groups that we can uncover if we follow the money. With our new center, we'll be better equipped to fight economic crime together."
The European Commission said Tuesday that it is considering tightening the rules for recovering proceeds of criminal activity. The EU's executive arm said it has found that member states use differing approaches to confiscating assets when a suspect has not yet been convicted of a crime, with some countries implementing more robust procedures than others.
--Editing by Ed Harris.
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