New Government agency will fight organised crime

The Government plans to set up an Organised Crime Agency (OCA) within New Zealand Police to provide increased capability in the battle against organised crime in New Zealand and around the Pacific.

Attorney-General Dr Michael Cullen, who has ministerial responsibility for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said the SFO will be disestablished and its important functions will be carried out by the new OCA.

Justice Minister Mark Burton said the new organisation was designed to provide police with improved tools to target organised crime.

Police Minister Annette King said establishing the new agency within NZ Police made sense because Police are the lead agency already in most responses to organised crime.

"The very nature of organised crime means that it is dynamic and moves quickly between activities and levels," she said. "Organised crime spans the width of the criminal activity spectrum.

"This activity includes cyber crime, identity theft and identity fraud, money laundering, extortion, blackmail, fraud and drug manufacturing, distribution and trafficking. Organised crime can also encompass paedophilia networks and politically motivated criminal activity."

Ms King says organised crime is becoming increasingly complex across all its activities. "One of the most significant drivers in the development of contemporary trans-national organised crime and terrorist groups is the impact of technological change and globalisation.

"Organised crime has no boundaries and exploits national and international points of weakness. Trans-national networks link gangs, business people, families, political and religious movements and terrorist activity."

Ms King said the view of New Zealand agencies "is that organised crime in all its manifestations is growing in New Zealand and through the Pacific region. Quite clearly, we need to increase our response to be forearmed to meet all possible contingencies. The proposed OCA will focus on preventing, investigating and disrupting serious organised crime rather than on street level offending."

Dr Cullen said that it was better to build a single, strong agency rather than retain the separate powers and functions of the Serious Fraud Office, though its important emphasis would be maintained by the new agency.

"The SFO was set up in 1990 after the share market crash uncovered substantial white collar crime activity. Since 1990, the nature and scale of fraud offending has changed. Modern fraud offending, enabled through globalisation, computer, internet and identity access, is so complex that the demarcation between fraud and other forms of organised criminal activity is no longer a clear one."

Mr Burton said the new agency would provide for a collective response across the justice system as well as the benefits provided by a national enforcement body. "The Government is convinced we need to take a cohesive and coherent strategic approach to fighting organised crime. The new agency shows exactly how committed and serious we are."

Ms King said incorporating the functions of the SFO into the new agency will bring in the important specialist skills and abilities the office has built up in areas such as computer forensics.

The new agency will also draw on expertise from other law enforcement agencies and departments. The Officials Committee on Domestic and External Security Coordination (ODESC), which includes representatives from the wider Government community, will provide strategic oversight, coordination and advice to support the OCA's management and operations.

"The Independent Police Conduct Authority will also have oversight of the OCA in the same way it has oversight of NZ Police. The recently-completed Law Commission report on Search and Surveillance Powers will provide the framework for assigning any such powers to the OCA."

Ms King said further details on the role, function and powers of the proposed OCA would become available in October at the same time as development of Organised Crime Strategy was due to be reported back to the Government.

Key functions of the proposed OCA:

• The creation of cross-agency strategic and tactical intelligence collection and assessment, consistent with the Organised Crime Strategy. This could include the provision of watch lists and standardisation of intelligence storage and dissemination.

• The provision of leadership for law enforcement investigation agencies. This could include the production of annual threat assessments which would identify organised crime priorities (e.g. complex tax fraud, money laundering, or serious fisheries offences).

• Improved planning capability and ongoing strategic priority setting that can respond to dynamic situations. Such situations could include new technology threats such as denial of service attacks, or entry of 'new' criminal groups to New Zealand and the Pacific region.

• Prioritisation of investigations of persons or organisations that have been identified as being involved in serious organised criminal activity. This could include those at the top level of criminal groups with international connections, or New Zealand criminal groups involved in organised criminal activity (such as 'outlaw motorcycle' groups).

• Development and delivery of a co-ordinated and whole of government enforcement response to organised crime (including through cross agency taskforces which focus on the activities of identified groups or individuals).

• Recovery of assets obtained through organised criminal activity. For example, this could include assets obtained through serious and complex fraud, drug production and distribution or identity fraud.

• Facilitation of cooperation with equivalent overseas agencies on joint operations and intelligence sharing (e.g. the disruption of international paedophile rings). The OCA would also provide a single point of contact for other international organised crime agencies and units.

• Engagement with Pacific partners, possible through the Pacific Trans-national Crime Unit Network.

• Prevention of opportunities for organised crime to operate.

• Protecting New Zealand's infrastructure from undue influence, corruption of public officials and serious conflicts of interest. This will further enhance public reassurance and New Zealand's international credibility.

ENDS

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