Financial Crime Investigation Service

Projects

On 6 March 2006 the Financial Crime Investigation Service together with the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania signed the contract of the grant assignment to the Service with the Support Foundation European Social Fund Agency. According to the signed contract the implementation of the project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing the English skills of the staff” is foreseen.

The goal of the project is to teach English the officers and civil servants of the Financial Crime Investigation Service. It is planed, that in the project implementation process 130 officials will be able to develop their skills of the English language. The participants of the courses from all the 10 regions of Lithuania will develop their language skills; they will gain the knowledge of English according to the general European system of 5 stages. In the period of nearly two years 50 officials of the Service will study English for 240 academic hours, 30 – 200 acad. hr, and 50 – 120 acad. hr.

The Financial Crime Investigation Service is granted 559 210 LTL support for the eligible costs of the project. The total value of the project is 977 298 LTL. On May 2006 a tender for public procurement was held and the contract was awarded to PI Foreign Languages Teaching Centre.

Internship in Ireland for ten employees of the Service under the project of English language

On 26 February – 2 March 2007 in Dublin (Ireland) ten employees of the Financial Crime Investigation Service improved their knowledge of English at Language Centre of Ireland. The Service officers passed a test at this centre, which was aimed to determine the level of their knowledge of English. Afterwards the Service representatives were distributed into groups of different levels, in which together with the representatives from other foreign countries they studied the English language. According to the implemented project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing personnel skills of the English language” the course of 30 hours per week of English was foreseen for the FCIS staff members. The training was held throughout the week for the whole working day. That was the second group of the Service staff, which studied English in Dublin. The first group went on internship last year in October.

The purpose of the project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing personnel skills of the English language” is to give the lessons of English to the officers and state officials. It is expected that the project under implementation till May 2008 will improve qualification of the staff and provide the possibilities for better representation of the country on different levels at the European Union committees, working groups. It will serve for the more efficient cooperation and better exchange of information with foreign countries.

It is expected that the project, being implemented till May 2008, will raise the qualification of the officials, provide them the possibility for better representation of the State of Lithuania at different levels in the European Union’s committees, working group; the cooperation will be more effective and the exchange of information with foreign countries will be improved.

On 26 November 2002 the memorandum was signed on Part II of the National PHARE programme, according to which the project 2002/000.601.04.03 “Strengthening of the FCIS administrative and technical capacity, implementing effective measures of money laundering prevention” was financed. Total project value was 1,4 mln. EUR. The project included the part of technical support and the investment part for the purchase of the necessary equipment and renovation of premises.

In 2004 together with the European Consultants Organisation (ECO) the implementation of the Service agreement has been started and completed, according to which 329 persons were trained, 4 study visits to the related EU institutions were arranged and the instructions to the financial leasers were confirmed, seeking to preclude money laundering.

Implementing the investment part, modern analytical software and hardware was purchased. In the same year the renovation of computer infrastructure and protection system was started and finished in May 2005 at the FCIS premises (Šermukšnių 3/Kaštonų 6), video-monitoring system installed and repair works done. In August 2005 the new information system was installed in Money Laundering Prevention Division, meant for the accumulation and processing of the information sent by the financial and other institutions about the performed financial operations.

The project goes on – the staff of the Service develop the knowledge of English language at the intensive courses

Since 22 January seven officials of the Financial Crime Investigation Service from Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai and Marijampolė are improving their English language at the intensive courses held in the capital city. For 8 academic hours every day in the period of three weeks these officials will study English. They will take a course of 120 academic hours in total and finish the first level training programme.

This is the fifth group of the Financial Crime Investigation Service officials, developing their knowledge of English in the implementation of the project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing personnel skills of the English language”.

When this group finishes the training, 8 officials of the Financial Crime Investigation Service will improve their knowledge of English at the intensive courses. Later on two groups will be formed of 7 and 6 officials of the Financial Crime Investigation Service, they will gain new knowledge in the period of 3 weeks.

Altogether 50 Financial Crime Investigation Service officials will take an intensive course in English under this project.

Internship in Ireland for ten employees of the Service under the project of English language

Partway of the implementation of English language skills development project

At the end of July 50 staff members of the Financial Crime Investigation Service were issued graduation certificates of the English language courses. Since September the officers working in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys studied English for 1,5 Hrs. three times a week. During the courses, which lasted for nine months, the officers finished two levels of English studies.

These courses were the partway of the project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing personnel skills of the English language”. The project implemented at the Service is co-funded by the European Union. During the first year 100 staff members of the Service developed their skills of the English language.

In autum the project of the English language will be continued. It is planned that 30 officials of the Financial Crime Investigation Service will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge of English starting from September.

New groups of the Service personnel continue the project of development of the English language skills

30 staff members of the Service started their studies of English since 10 September 2007. They study the English language for 1,5 Hrs. three times a week. It is foreseen that 30 staff members of the Service will study English under the project “Strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Financial Crime Investigation Service developing personnel skills of the English language” till spring of the nest year – till the end of project implementaion.

During the first year of project implementation 100 officials of the Service developed their skills of the English language.