Text 6: Two Levels of Cooperation

Russian law allows for conducting cooperative investigations with other countries for money laundering, to include asset freezing, seizure, and forfeiture. Current Russian laws used to combat money laundering focus on the underlying crime that generates illegal proceeds. This international cooperation can be initiated on two levels: at the diplomatic level, which requires the legal procedure using letters rogatory described below; and at the operational level, whereby the information exchanged is used for investigatory purposes only. Until more formalized bilateral agreements are signed, the trend in Russia is to encourage more contacts at the operational level between comparable national agencies, not only for the exchange of information but also for conducting joint investigations.

Russian law enforcement authorities may act on a legal assistance request in a money laundering case when the state asking for assistance is seeking records, searches, seizure of evidence, freezing of funds held in bank accounts, and the seizure and forfeiture of assets. Formal legal requests, in the form of letters rogatory, must first be sent through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which passes the request on to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The law enforcement agency evaluates the competency of the request. Then, based on the approval of the General Prosecutor's Office, a case is opened, and the operational phase of the investigation may begin. As a result of the investigation, any evidentiary information conveyed to the requester must be in conformance with international and bilateral agreements in effect between both countries. Problems occur when agreements do not exist with other countries, especially in the area of forfeiture and seizure of assets. Russia has signed no agreements with other countries on recognition of foreign judgements.

§ Vocabulary notes