Fourteen Ukrainian officials received advanced training on investigating new-age financial crimes in a training course held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 17 in Vienna.
According to a report released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSEC), the select supervisory and law enforcement officials from Ukraine learned about advanced techniques and tools required to investigate financial crimes using virtual assets.
The intergovernmental organization — OSEC — includes 57 participating countries from Europe, Asia and North America that together aim to tackle security-related and other concerns globally.
The course was organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Ralf Ernst, the acting co-ordinator of OSCE economic and environmental activities, said the training course helped enhance Ukraine’s resilience against financial crimes such as money laundering. He added:
“With the growing use of virtual assets and cryptocurrencies in Ukraine, there is a pressing need to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement and supervisory bodies.”
The officials from Ukraine were trained in tracing crypto transactions over different blockchains using specialized analytics software.
Ernst also revealed that the Ukrainian officials received similar training in the past on crypto investigations and that OSCE will “continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to combat money laundering, particularly through virtual assets and cryptocurrencies” under the ‘Innovative policy solutions to mitigate money-laundering risks of virtual assets’ project.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania and Poland fund the project, specifically designed to support the governments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to mitigate criminal risks related to virtual assets and cryptocurrencies.
Related: Ukraine demands local crypto businesses provide financials
Stablecoin issuer Tether recently collaborated with Ukraine and Israel’s local law enforcement agencies to freeze 32 addresses that were potentially linked to terrorist activity.
As Cointelegraph reported, $873,118 worth of Tether (USDT) spread across 32 wallet addresses in Israel and Ukraine were frozen.
“Contrary to popular belief, cryptocurrency transactions are not anonymous; they are the most traceable and trackable assets,” stated Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino, explaining the transparency offered by the crypto ecosystem.
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