The OCO in partnership with PICP and NZ Police conducted a 5-day Training on Financial Crime in Rarotonga, Cook Islands from 01 to 08 December 2018. The Training is part of the Declaration of Partnership that the PICP, OCO and PIDC are party to. The three Regional agencies have committed to conducting joint training for law enforcement agencies and relevant parties on pertinent issues that is linked to transnational organised crime.

More than 14 personnel from various law enforcement agencies including Police, Customs, Financial Intelligence Unit, Crown Laws office, Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, Immigration, and Bio Security underwent a National Workshop on Financial Crime.

The overall aim of the workshop was to create awareness and understanding on the impact of illicit financial flows and the social harm it creates to national and regional economies. The training also highlighted the need for border agencies to work collaboratively with each other and encourage a free flow of information exchange. The training also highlighted how transnational organised crime and its related offenses, money laundering, currency smuggling, environmental crime and tax fraud have cross jurisdictional implications and necessitates inter agency as well as regional cooperation and collaboration to systematically address these issues. The training covered a range of topics which included: illicit financial flows, tax fraud, customs valuation, trade-based money laundering, money laundering, informal money transfers systems, risk management, legislative platforms and information sharing.

OCO will continue to work closely with its partners in creating awareness on this continuous evolving security landscape.

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