1. Introduction to asset recovery in Poland and Wielkopolska region, along with the presentation of the invited guests and discussion of thematic areas presented by them
Assistant inspector Sebastian Cichocki Department for Asset Recovery Regional Police HQ in Poznan

2. The Schengen area and cross-border crime
Membership in the Schengen area has for a long time raised many questions in the context of potential benefits and risks.

3. The first are mainly linked to facilitating free movement of generically different goods, goods and people, which certainly influenced the revival of international cooperation of Member States and increase in the activity of their citizens in the field of free movement between countries.

4. The other side of the Schengen Area is to increase threats, even an increase in crime, including international (transnational crime).

5. Benefits in the form of increased possibilities of free movement of people and goods were quickly spotted and exploited by international criminal groups.

6. This involves for example easier flow of weapons, drugs and property derived from crimes. It also facilitates illegal trading within communities, tax fraud and legalization of the proceeds of crime including through "money laundering".

7. The topic "Money laundering and the protection of criminals’ property in the country and abroad (algorithms)” will be presented by deputy inspector Piotr Trzciński, expert from the Department for Fighting Organised Crime of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police and at the same time, the national coordinator for the supervision of the problem of protection of assets of criminals by organizational units of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police in Poland. His knowledge and skills were used in the creation in Poland of the National Bureau of Asset Recovery.

8. Recovery and protection of property in an international aspect
The broad concept of asset recovery should be understood as: recovery and process protection in Poland or overseas of property previously lost as a result of crime and repayable to the victim or protection of the property of a suspect in the country or abroad made for potential future penalties of a property nature, confiscation, punitive measure or compensatory measures (punitive ora other damages) or possible court costs.

9. Recovery of property and protection of property are one of the most important elements of the strategy of the Wielkopolska Police, which is to safeguard the interests of the victim in a criminal process.

10. This is reflected among other things in activities of Wielkopolska Police efforts to favorably balance profits, i.e. the value of secured property and the value of property recovered with the size of losses and damages caused by a crime.

11. These activities fit in well socially accepted process depriving the perpetrators of so-called „fruits" of the crime, localized both in the country and abroad.

12. Just because of cross border crime, operation connected with asset recovery often have an international character.

13. The European Union has long been committed to issues related to the limitation of the use on its territory of so-called „fruits" of crimes including by developing more and better mechanisms for the rapid exchange of information between EU countries and further with countries outside the zone.

14. Two areas of cooperation of EU Member States should be distinguished in this area.

15. The first is judicial cooperation (prosecutors and courts) in the area of proceedings. It has a formalized character and is based on international contracts.

16. The aim of judicial cooperation is creation, development and practical application of legal instruments allowing for effective legal assistance in securing and confiscation of illegal benefits.

17. In order to make the use of these mechanisms possible and effective first the property subject to seizure or protection must be found by the police, even outside the borders of our country.

18. Hence the second plane of interest of the EU is cooperation of police services of an operational nature in the scope of verification and control.

19. Its aim is to expand practical possibilities of making arrangements abroad in financial investigations concerning illegal transfers, transactions and disclosure of assets for effective exchange of information and intelligence (operating) data between law enforcement agencies.

20. It is usually informal and is dictated by common operating needs.

21. In practice, this meant a significant simplification in existing procedures of the flow of information and significant acceleration in their transfer between the countries concerned.