Crime - State Office against Financial Crime: Headquarters in Düsseldorf
The new state office against financial crime will be based in Düsseldorf. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance told dpa that the new state office will initially use a building on Erkrather Straße with flexible workstations that will be ready for occupancy in the near future. From 2025, another property in Düsseldorf will be the permanent headquarters. The state-wide tax investigation situation center will also be located there.
The new state office against financial crime will start as planned on January 1, 2024, the ministry spokesperson explained. It will bring together all tax investigation departments in North Rhine-Westphalia to combat tax evasion, money laundering and cybercrime. Existing employees will also be able to work at their current location. IT technology will be used to ensure that staff do not have to relocate, the NRW Ministry of Finance announced back in August.
The ministry spokeswoman said that the selection process for the head post was nearing completion. There had been several applications. The appointment is expected to be announced at the turn of the year. In addition, the financial administration had advertised around 35 positions internally for areas to be developed, such as the office, the IT competence center and the anti-money laundering unit. In addition to department and subject area managers, tax investigators in the area of cum-ex investigations and IT specialists are also being sought.
The first step will be to bundle the special structures in the tax investigation department. This includes a working group to combat the sources of financing for organized crime and terrorism as well as the central office for combating VAT fraud. In a second step, the ten special tax offices for criminal tax law and tax investigation are to be converted into regional branches of the new state office on January 1, 2025. The new state office will have a total of more than 1,000 employees in future.
Finance Minister Marcus Optendrenk (CDU) had announced that it was not just a matter of pooling personnel and organization. IT possibilities such as algorithm-supported analysis or AI should also be made widely available for investigative work. According to the ministry spokesperson, international networking is also being driven forward in parallel with the establishment of the new state office. French tax investigators are expected to visit in December.
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- The new state office against financial crime in North Rhine-Westphalia will primarily focus on combating tax evasion, money laundering, and cybercrime, acting as a central hub for all tax investigation departments in the region.
- The ministry spokesperson announced that the appointment for the head post of the new state office against financial crime is nearing completion, with several applications having been submitted.
- To tackle the sources of financing for organized crime and terrorism, the new state office in Düsseldorf will establish a working group that will work in conjunction with the existing central office for combating VAT fraud.
- The state-wide tax investigation situation center will be located in the permanent headquarters of the new state office against financial crime, which is scheduled to open in Düsseldorf from 2025.
- In the fight against cybercrime, the BMF intends to make widely available IT possibilities such as algorithm-supported analysis and AI for investigative work, with international networking also being a key priority.
Source: www.stern.de
