7th November 2023, Skopje – Financial Police Office increases its capacities in the fight against organized crime. With the support of the United Kingdom, a new modern system will be installed in the Financial Police Office which will digitalize the processes, allowing fast flow of information in the institution and their exchange with other institutions, improving the process of making quality decisions, all to the end of more efficiently tackling organized crime.
Today, Director of the Financial Police Office, Goran Ivanov, and HMRC FCLO Network Regional Manager – Western Balkans, Darren Partridge signed Memorandum of Cooperation, providing for the implementation of this Project. Minister of Finance, Fatmir Besimi, and British Ambassador, Matthew Lawson, also attended the signing ceremony.
“Financial Police Office is the key law enforcement institution in the country in the fight against organized financial crime and protection of the national financial interests, with the strengthening of its capacities and introducing of new modern systems contributing additionally to enhancing the efficiency in the fight against organized crime”, Minister Besimi said.
He also added that by building strong institutions, mutually cooperating and coordinated, we build an efficient system for fighting organized crime and corruption, contributing to boosting the competitiveness of the economy and economic growth.
Ambassador Lawson pointed out this Memorandum aims to determine the web-based multi-platform Enterprise Content Management System with Case Management Tools and licenses that will be granted-in-kind by HMRC to the Financial Police Office of North Macedonia to fulfil the objectives in the prevention and detection of economic, financial and organized crime and to define the provisions for its use and maintenance.
“Building the capacity and capability of the Financial Police Office in North Macedonia to enhance their financial investigation capacity to manage complex casework, show audit trails and increase transparency, is fundamental in disrupting criminal organizations – both at a national and international level”, British Ambassador said.
“The software”, as Director Ivanov said, “will contribute to strengthening the technical capacities of the Financial Police Office, thus getting closer to our ultimate goal – a modernized and fully professional service. The Project will provide for managing contents and processes that will allow for a simplified flow of documents and information.
He also said that the system will enable accelerating the preliminary investigations by filtrating relevant evidence. The solution itself, as he said, is aimed at reducing the day-to-day costs and enhancing employees’ efficiency.
HMRC FCLO Network Regional Manager – Western Balkans emphasized that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have a very long and constructive relationship with North Macedonia and our cooperation has always been very productive.
“Through our Fiscal Crime Liaison Officer Network both here and in the Western Balkans region, we aim to build strong relationships with trusted partners, not only to assist HMRCs international objectives, but where possible to identify opportunities where we can add value to assist our partners in the fight against organized crime and corruption, wherever it may occur”, Partridge said.
FPO’s new system is a donation from the United Kingdom through the British Embassy to the country, and is implemented with the support of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
It is a software solution that will increase the Financial Police Office’s operational capacity to better track and trace proceeds of crime and will enhance the efficiency of processes and procedures, thus improving performance in fighting serious and organized crime.
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