MOSCOW, February 14 (RAPSI) – Russia will strengthen powers to seize cash and property belonging to alleged foreign criminals under legal reforms drawn up by the Justice Ministry, Izvestia newspaper reported Friday.
Law enforcement agencies will be able to act against the assets of alleged criminals at the request of judicial authorities in other countries as part of the fight against transnational crime and terrorism, the report said.
The Justice Ministry has drafted legislative amendments to simplify international cooperation and enable Russian law enforcement agencies to become fully integrated in the global system of fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.
The reforms will allow agencies to respond to requests for assistance from other countries by exposing criminal income, seizing property, and conducting special examinations, interrogations and searches.
They will also be empowered to collect evidence of a crime and other documents for the requesting authority.
The powers will be available to Russia's Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the FSB in accordance with international agreements on legal cooperation and the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Federal Financial Monitoring Service, which monitors suspicious financial transactions in Russia, has compiled a black list of 363 foreign individuals and 80 companies suspected of financing terrorism.
