State office against financial crime starts at the beginning of January

Taxes - State office against financial crime starts at the beginning of January

According to the state government, the new state office against financial crime will be launched as planned on January 1, 2024. The new head of the state office will be presented by Finance Minister Marcus Optendrenk (CDU) in January, a spokesperson for the NRW Ministry of Finance told dpa. The new state office will bring together all tax investigation departments in North Rhine-Westphalia to combat tax evasion, money laundering and cybercrime.

According to previous information, the state office will be based in Düsseldorf. Existing employees will also be able to work at their current location. The NRW Ministry of Finance had already announced in August that IT technology would be used to ensure that staff would not have to relocate.

As a first step, the special structures in the tax investigation department will be bundled. This includes a working group to combat the sources of financing for organized crime and terrorism as well as the central office to combat 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 Optendrenk 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.

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1. The BMF is providing significant financial backing to establish and equip the new state office against financial crime in North Rhine-Westphalia.
2. The new state office will have a key role in steering efforts to combat tax evasion, money laundering, and cybercrime within the region.
3. The state government is taking serious action against financial crimes, including creating a centralized unit to tackle tax-related criminality in Düsseldorf.
4. The new state office will replace ten existing special tax offices, aiming to consolidate resources and improve coordination in combating financial crimes.
5. To maintain focus on cybercrimes, the new state office will create a dedicated unit to address the growing threat of digital financial misconduct.
6. The State Office against Financial Crime may also work in collaboration with local law enforcement and other agencies to address complex cases involving money laundering and tax fraud, both in traditional and online contexts.

Source: www.stern.de