{"id":528,"date":"2018-06-01T20:34:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T20:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=528"},"modified":"2018-06-01T20:34:38","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T20:34:38","slug":"fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How to stop the relentless wave of transnational criminal organizations (\u201cTCOs\u201d)?\u00a0 This was the question discussed at the Hudson Institute event \u201cDismantling Russian Transnational Crime Organizations: A conversation with Jos\u00e9 Grinda Gonzalez\u201d on May 25, 2018.\u00a0 Judge Grinda is a Spanish special prosecutor for Spain\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office who is at the forefront of combating Kremlin-linked transnational criminal organizations in Europe.\u00a0 His office has the power to investigate money laundering, among other things, and is divided into a judicial office, a tax ministry unit, and a general intervention unit.<\/p>\n<p>Transnational criminal organizations are not simple gangs operating in one or two fields of crime.\u00a0 These are highly sophisticated and effectively run businesses that span continents.\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/events\/1560-dismantling-russian-transnational-crime-organizations-a-conversation-with-jose-grinda-gonzalez52018\">U.S. National Security Strategy<\/a> stated that, \u201cTCOs weaken our allies and partners by corrupting and undermining democratic institutions\u201d, and that \u201csome state adversaries use TCOs as instruments of national power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Judge Grinda explains that these organizations must legitimize themselves to become successful.\u00a0 He identifies four legitimacies that are vital to a TCO\u2019s business.\u00a0 The first being economic.\u00a0 The more money TCOs can make, the more power and influence they will have within the local government.\u00a0 The second is achieving societal legitimacy.\u00a0 This entails having a presence within the community to be accepted by the public.\u00a0 One major way the TCO can do this is to buy a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/fighting-russian-mafia-networks-in-spain\">soccer team<\/a>.\u00a0 The third legitimacy is politics.\u00a0 If TCOs are able to bribe and influence politicians to speak on their behalf, or change laws that benefit the TCO, then it can utilize those changes to increase profits and obtain power.\u00a0 For instance, Spain\u2019s defense ministers discovered evidence of Russian involvement in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-spain-politics-catalonia-russia\/spain-sees-russian-interference-in-catalonia-separatist-vote-idUSKBN1DD20Y\">Catalonia\u2019s illegal separatist<\/a> movement.\u00a0 The final legitimacy deals with money laundering.\u00a0 TCOs use law firms, banks, and institutions to defend themselves against criminal charges and hide their criminal activity.\u00a0 In Barcelona, the former head of police in charge of 16,000 officers was charged with having ties to a Russian TCO.\u00a0 This is clearly a complex system and reveals how difficult it can be to prosecute TCO members.<\/p>\n<p>But progress has been made.\u00a0 In a Spanish <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-43112443\">case<\/a> that dates back to 2008, a Russian MP and 17 other suspects have been tried earlier this year for their involvement with the Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya gang based in St. Petersburg.\u00a0 This gang has money laundered more than $62 million of Russian mafia money and is led by Gennady Petrov.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2017\/11\/russian-mob-mallorca-spain\/545504\/\">Petrov<\/a> has deep ties to the Russian government, and he partnered with former Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov to expand his empire.\u00a0 The two were friends and engaged in lucrative business deals and other organized criminal activities.\u00a0 Petrov also had contacts with a Russian Deputy Prime Minister, multiple cabinet ministers, legislators, oligarchs, the minister of health, and prominent businessmen.\u00a0 Spanish authorities arrested Petrov in 2008, but he later escaped and is considered at large in Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Combating TCOs is difficult, but there are a few available ways of doing so in the U.S. and abroad.\u00a0 First, as discussed by the panel, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/nsd-fara\">Foreign Agents Registration Act<\/a> (\u201cFARA\u201d) must be enforced.\u00a0 This Act requires all U.S. lobbyists working with foreign governments or political entities to register with the Department of Justice (\u201cDOJ\u201d) and disclose the government\u2019s activities.\u00a0 However, a FARA exemption allows lobbyists to file under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, and thus decreases enforcement of FARA, and increases the chances of foreign governments influencing U.S. lobbyists. \u00a0Another option proposed by Ben Judah, a Hudson Institute Research Fellow, is ending U.S. anonymous companies that Russian kleptocrats use to circumvent law enforcement and bring billions of dollars into the U.S.\u00a0 Lastly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/research\/14244-countering-russian-kleptocracy\">counter-kleptocracy initiatives<\/a> can be adopted by Congress, NATO, and the European Union.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the particular initiative, steps must be taken to abolish TCOs and either expel or arrest their members.\u00a0 As Judge Grinda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/events\/1560-dismantling-russian-transnational-crime-organizations-a-conversation-with-jose-grinda-gonzalez52018\">stated<\/a>, \u201cjust because we have a democracy does not mean we are immune to corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Max Raileanu is a legal intern at Berliner, Corcoran &amp; Rowe LLP and a rising 3L at American University School of Law.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to stop the relentless wave of transnational criminal organizations (\u201cTCOs\u201d)?\u00a0 This was the question discussed at the Hudson Institute event \u201cDismantling Russian Transnational Crime Organizations: A conversation with Jos\u00e9 Grinda Gonzalez\u201d on May 25, 2018.\u00a0 Judge Grinda is a Spanish special prosecutor for Spain\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office who is at the forefront of combating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-transnational-organized-crime-cybercrime-narcotics","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to stop the relentless wave of transnational criminal organizations (\u201cTCOs\u201d)?\u00a0 This was the question discussed at the Hudson Institute event \u201cDismantling Russian Transnational Crime Organizations: A conversation with Jos\u00e9 Grinda Gonzalez\u201d on May 25, 2018.\u00a0 Judge Grinda is a Spanish special prosecutor for Spain\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office who is at the forefront of combating [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Max Raileanu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ielr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Max Raileanu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Max Raileanu\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd\"},\"headline\":\"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Transnat'l Organized Crime, Cybercrime, Narcotics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/01\\\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"IELR Blog\",\"description\":\"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd\",\"name\":\"Max Raileanu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Max Raileanu\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ielrblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/mraileanu\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog","og_description":"How to stop the relentless wave of transnational criminal organizations (\u201cTCOs\u201d)?\u00a0 This was the question discussed at the Hudson Institute event \u201cDismantling Russian Transnational Crime Organizations: A conversation with Jos\u00e9 Grinda Gonzalez\u201d on May 25, 2018.\u00a0 Judge Grinda is a Spanish special prosecutor for Spain\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office who is at the forefront of combating [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/","og_site_name":"IELR Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/intlenforcementlawreporter\/?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00","author":"Max Raileanu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ielr","twitter_site":"@ielr","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Max Raileanu","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/"},"author":{"name":"Max Raileanu","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd"},"headline":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations","datePublished":"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/"},"wordCount":678,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Transnat'l Organized Crime, Cybercrime, Narcotics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/","name":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations | IELR Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-06-01T20:34:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/01\/fighting-back-against-transnational-criminal-organizations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fighting Back Against Transnational Criminal Organizations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/","name":"IELR Blog","description":"Official Blog of the International Enforcement Law Reporter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7292655fa5547f17ad2ff94e8ed009fd","name":"Max Raileanu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ded24af7cb9770de14d3f0608ef13dcee77d8c12f8809e0fa91dea1c4bd4a0d4?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","caption":"Max Raileanu"},"url":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/author\/mraileanu\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pas6ng-8w","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}