Blockchain and Digital Currencies for Law Enforcement Investigation and Criminal Justice

Professional Certificate Course

This course aims to provide law enforcement investigators, prosecutors and other officials of the criminal justice system an introductory overview towards: a) cryptocurrency related financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing and fraudulent transactions; and b) the role of blockchain technology in the fight against those financial crimes.

A Professional Certificate Course will be awarded by the University of Nicosia

THE STARTING DATE FOR THIS COURSE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

REGISTER NOW!

About the Course:

The association of cryptocurrencies with criminal activity has attracted significant attention and scepticism worldwide, posing numerous threats as well as challenges for legislators, regulators, and law enforcement agencies. This course aims to provide law enforcement investigators, prosecutors and other officials of the criminal justice system an introductory overview towards: a) cryptocurrency related financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing and fraudulent transactions; and b) the role of blockchain technology in the fight against those financial crimes.

By examining numerous case studies, focusing particularly on the (pseudo)anonymity of crypto payments, the difficulty in monitoring payment flows, and the unregulated nature of many cryptocurrency exchanges, the aim of this course is to explore the growing threat and the sophisticated techniques deployed by financial criminals. In doing so, law enforcement agents and criminal justice officials are expected to develop sufficient knowledge and working understanding of the alerting – and often complex – links between cryptocurrencies and crime, and to be able to formulate an appropriate modus operandi inside the developing crypto-forensic domain.

This course will guide the participants through the basic concepts, techniques and players of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing via cryptocurrencies. This course will also categorise criminal activities, present the most common challenges for criminal prosecutors and explore how blockchain digital proof may be admissible and have an evidential value before the Courts of Justice. In addition, the course will cover several guidelines and working protocols established by international organizations, including best practices on cryptocurrency related financial crime investigation.

Law Enforcement Investigators, Prosecutors, other officials of the criminal justice system as well as Forensic Accountants, Certified Public Accountants, Certified Chartered Accountants, Fraud Examiners, AML Officers, Compliance Officers and Lawyers.

  1. To recognize the real interest of a financial investigation in the framework of criminal proceedings associated with cryptocurrencies.
  2. To identify and analyze current and emerging criminal techniques provided by the virtual currencies and Dark net platforms to carry out anonymously illegal transactions and launder dirty funds.
  3. To develop adapted investigative methods to trace parallel or underground money flows in crypto transactions.
  4. To learn and draw best practices for financial investigations related to crypto transactions.
  5. To assess and select the different situations justifying financial investigations; list the main money laundering techniques; review the strategies to trace the dirty flows backed by cryptocurrencies.
  6. To collect, classify, analyze, structure, and synthesize financial and other data in order to profile correctly a suspect (company or individual), detect risk or even evidence of illegal financial transactions linked to organized crime activities.
  7. To clarify – from both legal and operational angle – the judiciary steps to confiscate the criminal assets in foreign countries and engage recovery proceedings, with special light on the freezing orders and the EU Principle of mutual recognition to confiscation orders.
  8. To recognize the different international actors involved in financial investigations in and list all kinds of support they can provide.
  9. International standards for anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing.

Who you will learn from:

Jeff Bandman leads Bandman Advisors, an advisory practice helping clients ranging from overnments to global firms to start-ups meet strategic innovation and regulatory challenges. He is currently advising the government of the Republic of Cyprus on new DLT legislation as well as requirements under new FATF requirements with respect to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. He regularly advises clients on matters relating to cryptoassets, blockchain, FinTech, RegTech, financial markets and the US and international regulatory framework. Jeff is widely recognized as a thought leader, speaker and educator on financial markets and regulation as well as blockchain and cryptoasset law, regulation and policy. He is co-Founder and Board Member of the Global Digital Finance policy initiative and leads its regulatory engagement globally. He conducts training seminars for regulators on digital assets and international standards. He teaches law, policy and regulation of blockchain and cryptoassets at the University of Nicosia’s Institute for the Future (IFF). As Lecturer in Global Affairs at Yale, he taught blockchain, cryptoassets and public policy in the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Jeff Bandman is also Founder and CEO of BlockAgent Inc., a new independent SEC-registered transfer agent focused on blockchain-based digital securities. BlockAgent is the new regulated market infrastructure bringing trust and compliance to digital securities. Jeff also chairs the Blockchain Committee of the Securities Transfer Association. Previously, Jeff was a senior official at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He is best known as the architect responsible for the design and launch of LabCFTC, the CFTC’s hub for engagement with FinTech innovation (the first launched by a U.S. market regulator). As an Advisor to Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, Jeff was Founding Director and architect of LabCFTC. He established and chaired the CFTC blockchain, virtual currencies and FinTech working group from inception in 2015. Jeff led FinTech and RegTech coordination with domestic and international regulators and led work by international regulators on post-trade digital innovation. He joined the CFTC as Special Counsel to Chairman Timothy G. Massad, and led the CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk, which oversees many of the world’s largest clearinghouses. He led the negotiations resulting in “Clearinghouse Equivalence” with the European Commission. He also led the CFTC’s Office of International Affairs. Jeff worked for many years in the financial industry in New York and London. He rebuilt and ran Cantor Fitzgerald’s market data business after the events of September 11. As Head of Partnerships & Alliances of LCH’s SwapClear, he helped design and launch the SwapClear “FCM service” for clearing interest rate swaps through US intermediaries after the financial crisis. Mr. Bandman started his career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. He graduated from Yale magna cum laude, with honors in History and English. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School, with honors as a member of the “Order of the Coif”. He is a five-time Jeopardy! Champion and spent his winnings backpacking around Africa, Asia and Europe.

Dr. Charis Savvides is an experienced corporate lawyer and law lecturer at the University of Nicosia with both practical and teaching experience in Corporate, Competition and Financial law, as well as in Regulation and Digital Currencies, a course offered by the University in the context of its MSc in Digital Currency.

Dr. Savvides obtained his law degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2005 and continued his postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom, with emphasis on International and European Business Law, obtaining his LL.M in International Commercial Law from the University of Nottingham and his PhD in Law from the University of Sheffield. His doctoral thesis was on competition law and more specifically on the EU regulatory framework on state aids to firms in difficulty.

He is Partner at the law firm Stelios Americanos & Co LLC, one of the largest, full service, law firms in Cyprus, with significant experience in the broader area of financial and investment regulatory compliance and fund administration. He is Head of three Departments of the law firm, namely: (i) Financial & Investment Regulatory Compliance, (ii) Restructuring, Receivership & Liquidation, and (iii) Innovation & Blockchain.

Dr Savvides is regular speaker at professional seminars, webinars and conferences, where he shares his knowledge and experience about the regulatory status and trends in the fields of Investment Funds, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies. He is the instructor of the professional training seminars/webinars organized by Global Training in the areas of Alternative Investment Funds, Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies. In addition, he serves as non-executive director in a private equity Alternative Investment Fund, regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

Professor Marinos Themistocleous is the Associate Dean of School of Business and Director at the Institute For Future (IFF), University of Nicosia. He holds a PhD in Information Systems Integration and a Postgraduate Degree in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education both from Brunel University, London, UK. Prior to that, he received an MSc in Information Systems Management and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, both from Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece. Marinos holds a certification in Blockchain, FinTech and future commerce from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Massachusetts, Cambridge, USA and he is the scientific coordinator at the world leading Blockchain and Digital Currency postgraduate programme at University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He has developed blockchain applications in the areas of energy and healthcare and serves as a blockchain advisor. Marinos retains close relationships with the industry and serves as consultant in areas such as blockchain, ebusiness, ehealth and information systems integration. Currently he is a member of the Parallel Parliament of the Cyprus and president of the Digital Economy and Digital Government Committee of the Parallel Parliament. In addition, Marinos has collaborated with the Greek Ministry of Finance, Bank of Greece, Greek Standardization body, Greek Federation of SMEs, ORACLE UK, B3-Blockchain Business Board UK, Intelen US, BTO Research Italy, Cyprus National Betting Authority, Cyprus Securities, Protergia S.A. and other organizations. Since 1995 he has been an active researcher and participated/coordinated around 40 R&D projects. Marinos has authored more than 175 refereed journal and conference articles, ten teaching textbooks and has received citations and awards of excellence. His research has attracted funding from various bodies and organizations. Marinos is on the editorial board of academic journals as well as on the board of prestigious international conferences and has run minitracks, tracks and journal special issues on Blockchain. In the past, he served as the managing editor of the prestigious European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS).

Pamela A. Clegg is the Director of Financial Investigations and Education for CipherTrace.

She works with governments, law enforcement officials, regulators, law firms and financial institutions around the world to conduct cryptocurrency financial investigations and to train and educate officials and employees to understand and investigate financial crimes, money laundering and other criminal activity within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Prior to joining CipherTrace, Pamela was the Assistant Vice President – BSA and Information Security for First State Bank. She also has over 10 years of international experience with investigations, due diligence and operations mostly in Latin America with the U.S. Government.

Pamela has her Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).  She obtained her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and her MBA from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has conducted trainings and workshops, and spoken about cryptocurrency and financial crimes globally, to include speaking engagements at INTERPOL, EUROPOL, ACAMS, ACFCS and other international and federal agencies and organizations.

Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction to Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies

  • Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain characteristics
  • Why they are susceptible to Money Laundering and why through Bitcoin?
  • Dark web, Cybercrime and “Anonymity”

Week 2: Laundering Cryptocurrencies

  • Stages, Mixing & Tumbling
  • Technics, Participants & Procedures
  • Money Laundering Schemes
  • Terrorist finance

Week 3: Internationally laws and rules

  • Legal and regulatory frameworks (USA, Europe, Asia)
  • International bodies
  • Latest FATF global standards on crypto assets and Anti-Money-Laundering
  • KYC / AML

Week 4: Conducting cryptocurrency fraud investigations

  • Sources and collection of data
  • Access of data on blockchain ledgers
  • Identify users of cryptocurrencies
  • Following the money

Tools for addressing crypto related crimes

  • CipherTrace
  • Etherscan
  • Examples and assignment

Week 5: Case studies and Complex schemes

  • Published cases
  • Exemplar case studies around the world

Week 6: Law enforcement Tools

  • Global Initiatives (Interpol Global Cryptocurrency Taxonomy, TITANIUM, e-Evidence)
  • How Blockchain eases the job of Law Enforcers (techniques, methods, and guidelines)
  • Best practices

Still have questions?

The University of Nicosia believes strongly in expanding accessibility to and affordability of higher education. Financial aid is available to students attending our professional training courses, through a combination of merit and need-based scholarships. To enquire, please contact [email protected] or +357 22 367228 stating your country of residence and specific circumstances (academic achievements for merit-based scholarships or financial information for need-based ones).

Group registrations (2+ students from the same agency/ organization) are also eligible for discounts. Please contact [email protected] or +357 22 367228 for further information on our discount policy.

Payments can be made via credit card, bank transfer, PayPal or Bitcoin.

Through our online Moodle platform you will have access to live sessions with the instructor and interaction with other students.
You will also have access to materials prepared by the tutor.
Materials include presentations, assignments and additional reading material.

Participants who will pass the test at the end of the course will be eligible for the professional certificate of completion. The certificate will be issued in your name at no additional cost, upon successful completion of the course.

Register Today!

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