New Delhi: Interpol has published its first-ever “silver notice” to identify, trace, and recover or confiscate the proceeds of crime and criminal assets, scattered across countries, of a fugitive or key accused in a fraud or money laundering case.
The initiative, which is at a pilot stage, aims to combat transnational organised crime and enhance international police cooperation.
According to sources in the Indian security establishment, each member country of Interpol, including India, can request nine such notices as part of the pilot project. If all goes according to plan, the initiative will be formalised at the Interpol General Assembly, to be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, at the end of this year.
A source said that India had been pushing for the silver notice in several Interpol meetings as it would be an “effective tool” in tracking assets globally in cases of financial fraud.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the nodal agency for Interpol in India. All requests to Interpol from India are sent through the CBI.
“Once this (silver notice initiative) becomes operational, any fugitive or mastermind who distributes the proceeds of crime across several countries, thinking they will never be traced, can be brought to justice,” the source explained.
“For instance, if a silver notice is issued against an individual, we can give a list of countries (say 5 or 10 countries), where we suspect the assets of the individual to be present. The Interpol will then send notices to those countries and they will contribute whatever information they have regarding the assets of that person in their respective jurisdictions. They will also assist in confiscation and seizure.”
The source said that, previously, it was very difficult to trace such assets due to the lack of a global database. But with this initiative, countries can share information about the assets of the accused, making it easier for the investigating country to seek attachment of those assets.
“It’s like solving a puzzle. Once all countries share their information about an accused, we will be able to trace them and their assets from all corners, leading to effective recoveries,” the source asserted. “So far, Interpol is limited to tracing human beings. For the first time, this notice has been created for identifying assets and proceeds of crime.”
The silver notice is the newest addition to the Interpol’s series of colour-coded notices, which enable countries to share alerts and requests for information worldwide.
“It (silver notice) is being launched as part of a pilot phase involving 52 countries and territories, which will run at least until November 2025,” Interpol said in a statement.
According to the statement, the first silver notice was requested by Italy seeking information on assets belonging to a senior member of the mafia.
Interpol further stated that through silver notices and diffusions (an informal alert), member countries can request information on assets linked to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offences.
“It will facilitate locating, identifying, and obtaining information about laundered assets including properties, vehicles, financial accounts and businesses. Countries may subsequently use such information as a basis for bilateral engagement, including bilateral requests for seizure, confiscation or recovery of assets, subject to national laws,” the inter-governmental organisation said.
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‘India big part of deliberations’
India has played a crucial role in making the silver notice a reality, the sources said.
It was in 2015, when the CBI organised the Interpol Global Focal Point Conference on Asset Recovery in New Delhi, that the issue was first discussed and Interpol resolved to create the new notice. The first resolution passed was about this, sources said.
Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech at the conference also mentioned the said notice, stating that if started, it could “add value to asset-tracing investigations and facilitate real-time information-sharing in complex cases”.
“I appreciate the efforts of Interpol and its partners–World Bank and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime–in conceiving the idea and giving leadership to this forum that has the potential to put an end to safe havens for the corrupt,” Modi had said.
In October 2022, when India hosted the Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi, the silver notice to combat circulation and flow of illicit proceeds was discussed in great detail, the sources said.
This, a second source said, was done considering the growing volume of financial crime committed globally.
“It was discussed that since illicit financial flows are linked to many types of predicate crime, in addition to fraud and corruption, the most effective means of combating transnational crime is to strip criminal organisations of their illegal profits, thus depriving them of their economic and financial power,” the source said.
In that assembly, it was also recommended that an expert working group be established to assess various proposals related to the exchange of financial information and to the tracing and recovery of criminal assets, including the 2015 resolution to create a new Interpol notice named “silver notice”.
India was part of that expert working group, the sources confirmed.
“In 2023 and 2024, there were long deliberations over it and India was part of the entire process. Finally, it has taken shape and it is a welcome move,” the source mentioned above said.
‘Working to disrupt criminal networks’
In a statement, Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said that stripping criminals and their networks of illegal profits is one of the most powerful ways to fight transnational organised crime, especially considering that 99 percent of criminal assets remain unrecovered.
“By targeting their financial gains, Interpol is working to disrupt criminal networks and reduce their harmful impact on communities worldwide,” he said.
In 2023, Interpol’s 91st General Assembly, held in Vienna, Austria, outlined the development and implementation of the silver notice and diffusion pilot.
The resolution tasked the Expert Working Group on Asset Tracing and Recovery, in collaboration with the General Secretariat, with designing the pilot’s scope, format, conditions and safeguard measures, Urquiza stated.
While notices are shared with all 196 member countries of Interpol, diffusions may be directed to selected relevant countries.
“The General Secretariat will review every silver notice and diffusion for compliance with the organisation’s rules prior to its publication or circulation. This includes ensuring they are not used for political purposes,” the statement said.
During the pilot phase, extracts of silver notices will not be published on Interpol’s website.
Participating countries in the pilot will be able to collectively request up to 500 silver notices and silver diffusions, with the total divided equally among all participating countries, it added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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