Fraud squad tasked with white collar crime investigation has no financial experts

The specialist Garda unit tasked with combating fraud and white collar crime does not have any dedicated financial analysts.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI) is “struggling” to manage the demands placed on it and its IT system “is not fit for purpose”, according to the Garda Inspectorate.

In its Changing Policing in Ireland report, the inspectorate called for the effective disbandment of the bureau and the transfer of its functions to other sections of the force.

It said local divisions were investigating complex fraud cases without the necessary skills and resources.

“The GBFI do not have dedicated financial analysts and currently have to ask for assistance from other departments,” the report said.

The report said the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) within GBFI deals with all suspicious financial transaction reports in relation to suspected money laundering or terrorist financing.

It said the FIU is “under pressure” to manage a growing workload and added: “The FIU does not have a dedicated financial analyst and the IT system in use is not fit for purpose.”

The inspectorate said the GBFI does not have a cybercrime unit, which gardaí told the inspectorate was an area “needing immediate action”.

The report highlighted continuing problems at the Computer Crime Investigations Unit (CCIU) within the GBFI. It still has a four-year waiting list in many cases, which is continuing to put prosecutions at risk.

This issue was raised by the inspectorate and other bodies years ago. The report said that, despite additional resources going into it, the problem was “unresolved” and there remained “a serious deficiency in capability”.

The inspectorate wants the bureau broken up and for serious fraud cases to be handed over to a new super-crime agency, the proposed Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

The report said this SOCU unit “should have trained financial and criminal analysts”. A new cybercrime unit should also be housed within SOCU.

The report said that less serious fraud cases should be investigated by divisions, with a clear monetary threshold for determining responsibility for investigations.

The bureau’s money laundering section (currently FIU) should be transferred to the Criminal Assets Bureau, which the inspectorate said had its own analysis unit and a separate IT system. If that was not feasible, the function should go to SOCU.

It said CCIU should merge with the Technical Bureau into a new Forensics Unit.

The report said the Assessment Unit at GBFI operated as a “clearing house” for all fraud cases.

It said the vast majority of fraud incidents were commercial cases. Of these, 10% were currently allocated to GBFI investigators and 20% were referred back to local divisions for investigation.

Of the remaining 70% of cases, half were “in abeyance waiting for victims to provide more evidence” or, in the case of internet crimes, “there are often problems in establishing the jurisdiction where the crime took place”.

It said the Assessment Unit operated a helpline for the public and divisional investigators, which was “very busy” and “consumes a significant amount of GBFI’s time and resources”.

It said the GBFI itself said that some fraud cases sent to the divisions were “too complex” for local detectives.

The report said it had also identified that some local divisions were investigating complex cases and did not notify GBFI.

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