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Source: Europol
Privacy measures currently being rolled out, such as end-to-end encryption, will stop tech companies from seeing any offending that occurs on their platforms. It will also stop law enforcement’s ability to obtain and use this evidence in investigations to prevent and prosecute the most serious crimes such as child sexual abuse, human trafficking, drug smuggling, homicides, economic crime and terrorism…
Source: Eurojust
The handover of the painting took place on 26 March 2024 at the National Museum of Art, Bucharest, between Thames Valley Police, Romanian Police, Christ Church College and the Romanian Ministry of Culture. This was assisted by the National Crime Agency’s International Liaison Network.
The UK authorities are appealing for information about two other paintings stolen in the same raid: ‘A Soldier on Horseback’ by Anthony van Dyck, dating from around 1616, and ‘A Boy Drinking’ by Annibale Carracci, dating from around 1580.
The Romanian police were contacted by a man in possession of the Rosa painting, who had sold on the other two artworks, which are understood to be somewhere in Europe. He chose to return the Rosa painting to the authorities. The man is being treated as a witness by the Romanian authorities and has not been arrested.
The three works had an estimated value of GBP 10 million (EUR 11.7 million).
The case was opened at Eurojust at the request of the United Kingdom. The Agency helped the national authorities involved to coordinate their investigations and to resolve the legal problems related to the different national laws. Eurojust assisted the UK authorities in drafting a letter of restitution for the Romanian authorities so that the painting could be returned promptly to Oxford Christ Church.
This investigation was also supported by Europol.
The following authorities took part in this investigation:
Source: Europol
Between Sunday 14 April and Wednesday 17 April a total of 70 addresses were searched across the world, resulting in the arrest of 37 suspects. This includes the arrest of 4 individuals in the United Kingdom linked to the running of the site, including the original developer of the service.The LabHost platform, previously available on the open web, has been…
Source: Europol
The crackdown was the result of a long-running investigation led by the Spanish Police and Spanish Regional Catalan Police, supported by Europol and also involving Portuguese authorities. During the action days, law enforcement officers carried out 13 searches that led to the seizure of:EUR 156 000 in cash,gold bars worth EUR 35 000,more than 50 vehicles,jewellery and over 30 luxury…
Source: Eurojust
In Germany, France and Spain alone, over 4 500 victims have lodged formal complaints against the fraudsters, who set up a crowd-funding programme to raise a minimum of EUR 50 per investor for the development of medicinal cannabis plants. In reality, no cannabis plants were ever bought, although the organisers of the scheme pretended to work with legitimate and licensed enterprises that would cultivate them. The fraud ran from at least January 2020 to July 2022.
The entire scheme had the character of a pyramid or ‘Ponzi fraud’ and promised extremely high returns on investment. Investigations in Germany and Spain, later followed by counterparts in other countries across Europe, showed that investors had been only partially paid.
Most of the invested money was used to pay affiliates, keep the scheme running and expand the fraud through extensive online campaigns. For this purpose and to launder the proceeds, a web of international enterprises was used. The scheme itself appears to have been run by a Russian criminal network, with an affiliated German-based crime group.
Victims in Germany and Spain claim to have lost at least EUR 51.5 million, but the total investment is estimated to be close to EUR 645 million. In total, around 550 000 participants worldwide were registered as online investors, most of them European citizens. Around 186 000 participants transferred funds, either via cryptocurrencies or bank transfers.
Since 2022, Eurojust has been extensively supporting the national authorities, including assisting the German, Spanish and French authorities in setting up and funding the JIT. This led to a successful Joint Action Day coordinated at Eurojust.
At the request of the German and Spanish authorities, in recent days operational actions against the criminal networks were also carried out in Estonia, Latvia, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic. The French authorities made a decisive contribution to the analysis of crypto flows during the investigations and took part in searches in Germany and Spain on the action day.
Europol supported this massive cross-border investigation from the outset, taking the lead in operational coordination and providing tailored analytical support. Furthermore, Europol shared results of the financial investigations as well as other intelligence with the involved countries. On the action day, Europol deployed officers with mobile offices to various locations worldwide.
During the action days, over thirty places were also searched and for several millions of Euros in crypto assets and bank accounts were frozen. Also real estate properties, luxury vehicles, artwork, cash and various luxury items were seized, as well as large numbers of electronic devices and documents.
The operations were carried out on the ground at request of and by:
Source: Eurojust
Supported by Eurojust and Europol, judicial and law enforcement authorities in Portugal and Romania have dismantled an organised crime group involved in human trafficking, qualified fraud and money laundering. The suspects allegedly transported Romanian citizens, mostly minors and women, to Portugal and used them to beg for a fictitious association, posing as deaf-mute children and young people.
The criminal network is believed to have made a profit of over EUR 230,000 from this criminal activity.
During a joint action on 11-14 March, the Portuguese and Romanian authorities carried out six house searches, interrogated three defendants and interviewed five witnesses in Romania. Eight more suspects were interrogated in the weeks following the operation. At least thirty victims were identified and brought to safety.
Eurojust assisted the Portuguese and Romanian authorities in setting up and funding a joint investigation team into the case in April 2023. The Agency organised and hosted two coordination meetings to facilitate judicial cooperation and prepare for the joint action.
Europol facilitated the exchange of information between the different law enforcement authorities involved.
The following authorities took part in this investigation:
Source: Europol
According to judicial estimates, the total damages resulting from fake investments in the advertised cannabis cultivation crowdsourcing platform amount to a staggering EUR 645 million, but actual and unreported damages could be significantly higher. In total, an estimated 550 000 participants worldwide, most of them European citizens, were registered as online investors. Using bank transfers or cryptocurrencies, around 186 000…
Source: Europol
The platform enables the swift exchange of operational and strategic information among Europol, EU Member States and partner countries with which Europol has cooperation agreements or working arrangements. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.In a world where threats can materialise at a moment’s notice, and criminals operate across borders with unprecedented speed and sophistication,…
Source: Eurojust
Eurojust has supported the Greek and Serbian authorities in dismantling a drug trafficking network allegedly involved in the murder of four members of a rival gang in Greece. In total, ten suspects were arrested in Serbia, Greece and Spain for the murders, which took place in 2020. Eurojust also supported and funded a joint investigation team (JIT) between Greece and Serbia to dismantle the organised crime group (OCG).
The OCG was based in the Western Balkans and was mainly involved in large-scale drug trafficking. It faced a split within its own organisation in 2014, with a rival group being set up in Greece. This split in the OCG led to a series of murder attempts and killings across Europe. Four members of the Greek-based criminal network were killed in 2020 on Corfu and in Vari on the mainland of Greece.
Investigations by both the Greek and Serbian authorities detected links to the original OCG. In 2023, Eurojust assisted the Greek and Serbian authorities in setting up and funding the JIT into the OCG in the Western Balkans. The Agency also assisted national authorities to prepare, at police level and under the supervision of prosecutors, the concerted actions in recent weeks to dismantle the criminal network.
Europol has been supporting the investigation since April 2021 and brought together the Greek and Serbian investigators to establish a joint strategy and prepare for the final day of action. Europol’s Serious Organised Crime Centre carried out extensive operational analysis to identify the entire organisation responsible for the homicides. Greek investigators were also deployed to Europol’s headquarters to develop the intelligence on their key targets.
In total, 39 suspects have been identified, including the ten detained persons. The authorities involved will now coordinate further judicial action against the OCG members based in the Western Balkans.
The actions on the ground were carried out by and at request of the following authorities:
Source: Europol
The investigation was initiated by Carabinieri anti-counterfeiting investigators in January 2023, who received support from Europol. The aim of the investigation was to take down the Naples-based criminal group. The group was mostly active in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, but they sold their counterfeit banknotes across Europe.Europol facilitated the information exchange and financed and coordinated several operational…