Date: September 21, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov WASHINGTON – Building on the success of cyber training IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) provided to Ukrainian law enforcement in May, CI joined with the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from the United Kingdom to deliver a second round of training focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain tracing to nearly 40 Ukrainian law enforcement officers Sept. 18 through 21. The training, which was offered virtually, provided Ukrainian law enforcement with tools to combat money laundering, analyze fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions and improve the effectiveness of blockchain forensic investigations. "I regularly tout the importance of public-private partnerships, and the trainings we've delivered to our Ukrainian law enforcement partners are real life examples of how government agencies and the private sector have come together on a global level to curtail sanction evaders," said CI Chief Jim Lee. CI, FIOD and HMRC teamed up with blockchain analytics companies CipherTrace and BlockTrace to deliver the training. Training participants were from the Cyber-Police Department of National Police of Ukraine, Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, Security Service of Ukraine, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation. After completing the training and passing an exam, participants received accreditation as Cryptocurrency Tracing Certified Examiners (CTCE). "Knowledge sharing is one of the priorities within these international partnerships and can contribute to greater know-how to counter cybercrime," said Niels Obbink, director general of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service. "It is a good development that this important knowledge is also shared with other countries." CI and private sector partner Chainalysis delivered an initial round of cyber training to Ukrainian law enforcement in May 2023 to target financial networks used by sanctions evaders who attempt to conceal their assets. Currently, CI has 30 ongoing sanctions-related investigations. The agency is actively working with the Office of Foreign Assets Control to support sanctions designation investigations and freeze assets controlled by or associated with those on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. International trainings help ensure that foreign partners possess the necessary tools to conduct effective cyber investigations. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
