WASHINGTON—From September 17 through September 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), with funding and support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and the International Law Enforcement Training Academy in Gaborone, Botswana, hosted a multi-day regional training event in Gaborone as part of the Counter Illicit Finance Teams (CIFT) program. The training event brought together delegations from Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Namibia, and South Africa, along with facilitators and trainers from the United States and from Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, to improve the capabilities of government agencies to investigate and address priority illicit finance threats, including those related to the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). CIFT training is designed to provide capacity-building, case studies, and targeted training to personnel from participating governments’ financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and prosecutors.
Assistant Commissioner Victor Mabina, Deputy Director of the Botswana Police’s Criminal Investigations Department, and San-Mari Ras of South Africa’s Department of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment shared opening remarks regarding the fight against illicit finance and the value of information sharing in support of financial investigations. The CIFT program featured overviews of FinCEN’s mission and that of other key stakeholders; a series of “Follow the Money” modules with insights on illicit finance methods; and deep dives on topics such as sanctions, cyber-enabled financial crimes involving convertible virtual currencies, human trafficking, and IWT. The training event concluded with an afternoon panel and discussion of each participating country’s current trends, issues, and best practices in combatting illicit financial activity associated with IWT.
The CIFT program was a key deliverable supporting the United States–South Africa bilateral joint taskforce to combat illicit financing of IWT announced by U.S. Secretary Yellen in January 2023.
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