BY PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
EUROPOL has hosted its largest-ever operation to boost global asset seizures, bringing together over 80 financial crime experts.
The initiative, dubbed ‘Project A.S.S.E.T.’ (Asset Search & Seize Enforcement Taskforce) was held between January 13 to 17, with participants from 43 law enforcement agencies across 28 countries, as well as representatives from Eurojust and Interpol.
The operation focused on sharing expertise to identify and seize criminal assets. Europol said specialists ‘shared expertise in identifying persons… and planned joint actions to seize assets’.
During the operation, authorities identified:
- 53 properties, including 8 worth €38.5 million,
- More than 220 bank accounts, one holding $5.6 million,
- 15 companies, over 20 yachts and luxury cars, 4 of which exceed €600,000 in value,
- 83 cryptocurrency wallets and addresses.
Additionally, €200,000 in cryptocurrencies was frozen.
Burkhard Mühl, the Head of the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) at Europol, said Project A.S.S.E.T showcased cooperation ‘at its finest’.
“Bringing together over 80 top experts from law enforcement and the private sector, we worked as one to trace, freeze, and seize the profits of organised crime,” he said.
“Together, we’re striking criminals where it hurts most – their wallets. As we move forward united, success is inevitable.”
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