Announcement

Financial Crimes Training for Afghan Judges

Thirty four judges receive financial crimes training.

Kabul, Afghanistan  | Sunday, November 30, 2008

Photo: USAID/ARoLP

Supreme Court Justice Abdul Rasheed Rashid, who heads the court’s public security division, said the FIT program was “extremely helpful” and thanked the U.S. Department of Treasury and USAID.

Thirty-four judges from six provinces are now better equipped to deal with financial crimes after receiving training from some of the most experienced financial crimes experts in the United States.

This November, USAID recruited 34 judges for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Investigative Techniques (FIT) training program.  Judges learned about money laundering, corruption, terrorist financing, asset forfeiture, and Afghanistan’s own anti-money laundering laws.

Richard N. Seaman, the U.S. Treasury’s regional financial enforcement adviser, said he hopes the FIT training “will raise [the judges’] awareness of—and sensitivity to—various types of financial crimes.” Once the FIT graduates return to their courts, Seaman believes that “investigators and prosecutors will ultimately be more confident that cases will end with fair and successful dispositions