Pátek 29. března 2024, svátek má Taťána
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How white collar rogues get away with corruption

Evropa

  15:00

An official report blames lack of money and outdated technology for poor anti-corruption results. Former policemen tell another story. 

foto: © ČESKÁ POZICE, Richard CortésČeská pozice

Why do police investigators have so little success uncovering and bringing charges in cases of serious corruption? To answer this question, the Minister of Interior ordered an internal review of the 237 corruption cases investigated over the past 18 months, a copy of which was published by the daily Hospodářské noviny.We don’t know which experts authored the report, yet it appears highly likely that they either did not want, or were unable, to describe the true state of affairs.

Following the publication of the interior ministry report, Czech Position asked several former policemen who now work in the private sector for their reactions to the report and their opinions on the current state of investigations into corruption. Their responses—given under condition of anonymity— firmly contradict the interior ministry’s findings.

Money and technology not the problem

One of the conclusions of the report is that outdated technology and lack of finances are major causes behind the lack of positive results from investigations into economic crimes. Our sources, however, say lack of knowledge on the part of investigators is the major factor. This they say applies both to investigators and police management, not only at the highest level, but more importantly at middle levels, namely those responsible for laying the ground and establishing conditions for the work of investigators and operatives in the special police units.   It’s essential that investigators have a solid knowledge of the Czech entrepreneurial environment especially the network of relationships and the functioning of the gray economy.

White collar crimes are highly complex and are quite different from investigations into “common” crimes. Those responsible for countering white collar crimes require an education in the field of economics with specialization in the banking sector, accounting and taxation. Practical experience in these areas is also essential; knowledge of relevant laws and legal issues can be acquired later.           

It’s also essential that investigators of economic crimes are capable of analytical thinking and have a solid overview of the entire problem, including knowledge of the Czech entrepreneurial environment (namely the network of relationships and the functioning of the gray economy). And these are just the basic requirements. Provisions for additional specialized training and compulsory work practice outside the law enforcement organs are also required. Therefore it is a shame the Interior Ministry report contains no mention of training schemes for personnel from the special police units.    

If these requirements appear to be unrealistic, it’s enough to look at Germany or the UK where, for example, suitable candidates for special units are identified when they are still in higher education. Essentially, in those countries cooperation between special police units and state organs such as tax authorities, private institutions including banks and insurance companies, and also academic institutions works entirely differently. In response to the brain drain from the public sector as a result of economic realities, in Britain and Germany systems defining obligations towards the state have been established.

Unfortunately, the Czech law on the conditions of state service for police officials does not contain any such concept.     

Illogical organization of labor

Another key factor is organization of labor. Most Czech policemen attempt to compensate for lack of specialized knowledge with operative – investigational means such as wire tapping or transaction monitoring (such as marking banknotes). However, such methods may be effective in investigations into common crimes, but in the closed society of white collar workers they’re completely ineffective.          

To illustrate this point it’s sufficient to look at the huge amount of requests for appraisals and legal opinions from external experts by police investigators. This illustrates incompetence on the part of some policemen and state prosecutors who shirk their responsibility to assess the evidential value of investigation materials.  

“There’s a lack of team specialization in this area. During training with the financial police, within the framework of cooperation with the Bundeskriminalamt [Federal Criminal Police Office], I observed the training of a team of financial inspectors in a large industrial company in Wiesbaden. The team included specialists in accountancy, financial flows, personnel from the customs service and financial office, and also a team of analysts trained in the use of information analysis tools,” a high-ranking policeman who recently left the service for the private sector told Czech Position. ‘Those responsible for the formation of the new unit were more concerned with creating a monolith which would fill the managerial “trough.”’           

The same source said the police’s anti-corruption unit even has the same technology as their German counterparts and has a training center established with EU funds which was set up as part of the formation of the anti-corruption and financial crimes unit (ÚOKFK). The former investigator, who served more than 20 years in the police, claims that those responsible for overseeing the formation of the new unit were more concerned with creating a monolith which would fill the managerial “trough” rather than establishing a well-functioning unit.            

Reportedly, other police units largely consider the system of bonuses and allocation of special financial sources within the ÚOKFK as scandalous. Average wages within the ÚOKFK are reportedly Kč 12,000, or 25 percent, higher than in other units.     

The national ÚOKFK is also charged with investigating cases which would be better iprobed at the local level. For example, it investigates all suspected financial crimes, including misuse of EU funds, involving elected and nominated municipal organs at the district level. Unlike regional police, the ÚOKFK investigators don’t have the knowledge of local entrepreneurial circles and their connections with local administrative organs and local government.          

Mantras of unsuccessful policemen

Another reason for the Czech Police’s poor performance in fighting corruption and economic crimes is the elevated status attributed to the ÚOKFK by the top ranks of the police force and also its own members. This megalomaniacal sense of superiority not only damages cooperation with regional forces, it also hinders collaboration with other national units including the unit for combating organized crime (ÚOOZ). And this is extremely detrimental because the overwhelming majority of grave economic crimes are of an organized nature, and likewise the majority of serious crimes investigated by ÚOOZ involve economic crimes.    

The former policemen we spoke to also dismiss the claims that some public prosecutors are responsible for intentionally blocking investigations:

“I worked with those people for 20 years and I was even one of the authors of the reorganization of the criminal police and [criminal] investigations in 2002, and I heard such talk constantly. It’s a sort of mantra for policemen behind which they hide their low level of‘In most cases the materials submitted by anti-corruption police have a very low evidential value.’ expertise; it’s self-censorship which is mostly the result of ignorance and fear, miserable levels of personal courage and initiative, and what was referred to as “procedural isolation”. Not that the state prosecutors are any better—they’re not—but I must defend them in such cases. State prosecutors are responsible for assessing the legal value of evidential materials,” the source said.

“In my opinion, in most cases the materials submitted by anti-corruption police have a very low evidential value. And unfortunately presumptions, even if true a million times a million times over, without supporting evidence are not adequate to launch criminal investigations, let alone press charges!” he added.  

“The same applies to the mantra about insufficient support from superiors. The police organs are independent and it’s solely up to them how they deal with a given case and bear responsibility for it. In this matter the police will never get more support than is provided for in the Criminal Code,” the former high-ranking police officer said.                        

If the heads at the Ministry of Interior and the Police Presidium really do want to improve performance in the fight against corruption, they should concentrate on better training for personnel and improving levels of expert specialization. They should also concentrate on establishing better cooperation between the ÚOKFK and other police units, improving organization of work instead of complaining about lack of finances, a bad legal environment, the work of prosecutors, and outdated technology.

Autor:

Šárka Hamrusová: Díky laktační poradkyni jsem si přestala myslet, že je chyba ve mně
Šárka Hamrusová: Díky laktační poradkyni jsem si přestala myslet, že je chyba ve mně

Šárka chtěla kojit. Chvíli to ale vypadalo, že se jí to nepodaří. Díky správně zvolené laktační poradkyni nakonec dosáhla úspěchu. Poslechněte si...