The United States Embassy in the Philippines, through the US Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training, and the Philippine Judicial Academy have conducted a two-day training-seminar for 28 regional trial court judges on money laundering and financial crimes from August 7 to 8 in Cebu City.
The US Embassy said OPDAT and PHILJA jointly conducted 25 trainings for judges on financial crime over the last three years.
“Increasing cross border financial crime awareness is critical because these cases are complex and must be handled efficiently and well when they arise,” said Commercial and Family Court Judge Rowena San Pedro, who was one of the speakers at the conference.
Western District of North Carolina Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank Whitney taught the Cebu-based judges international best practices on handling complex financial crimes cases.
Whitney, co-author of “Federal Money Laundering: Crimes and Forfeitures,” one of the first resources published on the topic, is his third visit to the Philippines to deliver money laundering training.
U.S. Embassy Resident Legal Advisor David Bragdon trained participants about fraud schemes and asset management.
Philippine experts from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Anti-Money Laundering Council, and Court of Appeals discussed Philippine law, investigative techniques, and inter-agency cooperation in handling financial crimes.
Court of Appeals Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas, Jr. discussed the rules of procedure involving financial crimes. Rey Requejo