directorate of special operations “scorpions” adv lf mccarthy
DESCRIPTION
PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENT (18 JUNE 2004). Directorate of Special Operations “SCORPIONS” ADV LF McCARTHY. A Room with a View. The opportunity for a sustained focus on undisclosed high level organized crime; The opportunity to employ and retain the services - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Directorate of Special Operations“SCORPIONS”
ADV LF McCARTHY
PRESENTATION TO PARLIAMENT
(18 JUNE 2004)
A Room with a View
• The opportunity for a sustained focus on
undisclosed high level organized crime;
• The opportunity to employ and retain the services
of highly skilled and suitably qualified investigators
by remunerating them appropriately;
• The need to radically change the State’s traditional
response of reacting to crime;
• The urgency to return legitimacy and credibility to
law enforcement, especially in the area of insidious
organized criminal activity.
The View from the Bottom Up
The Vision of the DSO:“Justice in our society so that people can live in freedom and security:
Loved by the people
Feared by the criminals
Respected by peers”
The Mission of the DSO:“We are a multidisciplinary agency that investigates and
prosecutes organized crime. We focus on crimes of national impact that requires the integration of intelligence, investigation and prosecution, supported by modern technology.”
The Structure of the DSO
NDPPNDPP
HEAD OF HEAD OF DSO
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
HEAD OF HEAD OF STRATEGIC & STRATEGIC & INVESTIGATIVE INVESTIGATIVE
SUPPORTSUPPORT
FCFC OCOC PCPC POCAPOCA
REGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSREGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSGPGP
REGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSREGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSECEC
REGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSREGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSWCWC
REGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSREGIONAL PROJECT TEAMSKZNKZN
CRIME ANALYSISCRIME ANALYSIS
CICU
FORENSIC SERVICESFORENSIC SERVICES
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENTTRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
OPERATIONAL SUPPORTOPERATIONAL SUPPORT
ADMINISTRATIONADMINISTRATION
Personnel
Gauteng 111
Cape Town 97
East London 58
KZN 97
CAD 32
Operational Support 38
Training 9
Head of Operations 22
CICU 18
Head Office 22
TOTAL 504
Males Females African White Coloured Indian
62 49 69 30 8 4
73 24 20 44 29 4
34 24 41 9 7 1
64 33 46 23 2 26
13 19 23 4 4 1
27 11 26 11 0 1
5 4 5 2 2 0
17 5 12 9 1 0
11 7 11 6 0 1
16 6 9 7 4 2
322 182 262 145 57 40
DSO Strategic Focus Areas
Serious and complex financial crimes;
Action under the
Prevention of OrganisedCrime Act, 1998
(Act No 121 of 1998), such as racketeering,
money laundering and asset forfeiture;
Traditional organised crime types, i.e. drug trafficking;
organised violence, (ie. taxi violence, urban terror and street gangs),
precious metal smuggling; human trafficking;
vehicle theft/ hijacking syndicates;
Organised corruption
(criminal justice system & public sector procurement)
• Identify and address those serious, complex and organised crime phenomena, that call for pro-active counter-attack;
• Become the primary source of crime information as mandated, with a stable, pre-emptive capacity to analyse serious organised crime trends and determine targets;
• Apply a multi-disciplinary approach to investigations to ensure quality impact in our focus areas;
• Disrupt organised crime and corruption networks through arrests, searches and convictions, and forfeiture;
• Attack the value chain of organised crime, through modern technology, method sophistication and communication surveillance;
• Be the foremost proponent of applying racketeering and money-laundering legislation; and
• Proliferate the perception of victory over crime, essential to enhance public confidence.
Strategy of the DSO
DSO Case Intake Criteria
• Complexity, prevalence, seriousness and premeditation;
• Financial worth, syndicate character / profile and public interest;
and
• Racketeering, money laundering and asset forfeiture.
The DSO Dashboard
1.THREAT ANALYSIS/
TARGET MATCH
8.ASSET VALUE
UNDER RESTRAINT
4.PROSECUTIONS
PENDING /FINALISED
7.MONEY-
LAUNDERING / RACKETEERING
5.CONVICTION
RATES
6.REDUCTION IN TURN-AROUND
TIME
2.PRO-ACTIVITY & INTELLIGENCE
PRODUCTS
3.INVESTIGATIONS
PENDING / FINALISED
9.OPERATIVE
ACTION
10.CONTRABAND
YIELD
A Dashboard Drilldown (1)
OUTPUT / INDICATOR
ACHIEVED2002
TARGET 2003 ACHIEVED2003
Match between Threat Analysis and
Targets in focus areas.
Not measured 15%21.4%
(24 targets)
Pro-activity scope and intelligence
products.
Not measured 10% of investigations / 20
products
19.5% (new matters)
(37)
Number of investigations
finalised in focus areas.
190 22093%(205)
Number of prosecutions
finalised.180 210
(90%)189
A Dashboard Drilldown (2)
Turn-around time for select investigations.
24 Months on averageReduced by 10%
21,6 months21,3months
(89%)
Conviction rate. 86% 75% 94%
Asset value under restraint.
Measured as potential in 2002
150m88%
(R132.49m)
Money-laundering and racketeering
cases.
4convictions
Benchmarking aimed at reaching
10.
40%(4)
Operative Action. 545600
109% (656)
Contraband Yield. R500mR550m
230% (R1.151bn)
OUTPUT / INDICATOR
ACHIEVED2002
TARGET 2003ACHIEVED
2003
DSO Productivity & Service Delivery Trends (1)
REGION GP EC WC KZN PMOSNPU
CI CU
Total
Number of investigations in
focus areas
65 17 29 21 10 55 9 206
Number of investigations
finalized
52 17 59 32 15 28 2 205
Number of prosecutions
finalized
50 27 56 29 17 10 0 189
Number of high-impact cases
investigated and prosecuted
(in strategic focus areas)
20 7 20 10 9 2 0 68
DSO Productivity & Service Delivery Trends (2)
A significant reduction in the
turn-around time of investigations and
prosecutions
10% 12% 11% 10% 15% 10% 10%
11.2%
Achieving a conviction rate that
enhances the perception of
victory over crime
95.50% 100% 83% 100% 83% 100% 0 94%
Assets under legal restraint /
confiscationR25m R529
000R49. 748m
R16.112m
R41mR20 000
0R 132.49m
REGIONGP EC WC KZN PMO SNP
UCICU
Total
DSO Productivity & Service Delivery Trends (3)
Number of racketeering
convictions under the POCA
4 0 0 0
0
0 0 4
Number of pro-active
investigations
9 2 11 4
5
2 4 37
Amount (value) of contraband yield
10m 0 6m R29m R1.1bn
0 R6m
1.151bn
Number of representations
disposed of
1247 534 240 175 70 30 0 2306
Number of motions attended to
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
Operative action projects
58 40 46 34 13 25 4 220
REGION GP EC WC KZN PMOSNPU
CICU
Total
DSO Productivity & Service Delivery Trends (4)
Number of persons arrested
71 26 16 55 107 10 5
290
Number of premises searched
65 14 31 16 0 20 7 153
Number of interception &
monitoring applications
5 0 5 4 5 0 1 20
Number of 252 A entrapment applications
103 4 10 10 58 6 2 193
REGION GP EC WC KZN PMOSNP
UCICU
Total
FINANCIAL CRIME
•Saambou [Major Corporate collapse: financial services].
•Leisurenet [Fraud on Shareholders & Insider Trading].
•Soekor [State v Park-Ross and 3 Others; Boardroom Corruption and nominal share-holding].
•Mohammed [Trust Fraud: Attorneys].
•Moosa [First Market Manipulation conviction in South Africa].
•GEMS [Extensive commissions fraud under Micro-lending scheme].
Operational Highlights
Operational Highlights
FINANCIAL CRIME CONT…
•Halgryn [100m estate discount fraud].
•Regal Bank [Financial Statement Fraud: boosting share price].
•Golden Arrow [Multi-million rand Transport Subsidy Fraud].
•Adodamo &Uguchuckiwu [Corporate Identity hi-jacking and Website-Spoofing].
ORGANISED CRIME
•Guanxi [Chinese syndicates: major smuggling networks].
•Contraband Yield [1bn value; 2bn social costs].
•WAS 419 [West African syndicates: Racketeering & money- laundering].
•Macadamian International [Creative & suspicious money transfers].
•S v Jabaar [Hawala: Cross-border Foreign currency].
•S v Zhou [Criminal supermarket: abalone & drugs].
•Ngubo [Political Violence: Life imprisonment: Natal Midlands].
•Nkonqo [Murder, Racketeering in the Eastern Cape between rivals taxi-associations].
•3 Gang leaders/ 3 Urban terrorists: [Multiple jail terms].
Operational Highlights cont…
CORRUPTION
•Augusta [1st conviction of multi-national on corruption charges].
•Mills [Multi-million corrupt Services Scheme].
•Houtbay Fishing [Money-Laundering and Fraud: R57m recovered].
•RAF [Corruption and Fraud: Attorneys and Agents].
•Landbank [Multiple convictions of corruption and fraud:
R100m involved].
•S v Shaik [International Corruption & Money- Laundering].
•S v Yengeni [Fraud on Parliament].
Operational Highlights cont…
• More than 150 convictions in urban terror, hi-jacking, taxi-
and political violence.
• Close to 2000 arrests, searches, seizures and other
operational breakthroughs.
• Up to 3 Billion rands worth of contraband and drugs taken off the
streets.
• Disrupted 100 syndicates/ groups involved in smuggling,
corruption, violence and money-rackets.
• Major advances in financial crimes, i.e. Houtbay Fishing,
Tanstar, Golden Arrow, Leisurenet, Regal, Halgryn,
Soekor.
• 45 million CARA, 25% plea bargaining.
Successes (3 Years)
Without Prejudice…
ISS Opinion Survey
65
43
39
37
36
36
31
24
6
20
29
27
19
28
35
31
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Scorpions
Judicial officers
Policy makers
Detectives
Prosecutors
Prison wardens
Uniformed police
CJS performance
Positive Neutral Negative Don't know
Performance ratings of CJS agents
ISS Findings
• The overall conception of the DSO was approved of internally and externally and some agencies were paying the ultimate compliment of imitation (of the general operational method of team-based prosecution- focused investigation).
• The need for better operational intelligence to support matters taken on and strategic intelligence to further define the strategic focus of the DSO was raised by interviewees inside and outside the DSO.
• This view also maintains it would be exactly the role of the DSO to carry out dedicated undercover operations that would begin to unearth further intelligence, which could also be used as evidence in a court of law.
• Interviewees were almost unanimous on the point that the DSO's external media campaign had succeeded spectacularly in installing public confidence and trust in the DSO, and reviving the hopes of citizens that South Africa can begin to succeed in the fight against crime.
ISS Findings cont…
• DSO members appeared keen to prove themselves and ‘make a difference’ and were not resistant to performance measurement, or to identifying faults with themselves or the organisation, with a view to improving performance.
• External stakeholders not involved in work similar to the DSO felt the DSO had performed extremely well since its inception; however many noted they had no first-hand knowledge and based this view on news reports.”
Making a difference?
Key Challenges for 2004/2005
• To strengthen our capacity to access appropriate crime information
timeously;
• To grow in pro-activity and unravel the top crime echelons;
• To ensure constant, visible operation with quicker action and
results;
• To make technology work to impact positively on law enforcement;
• To show a much greater presence in courts through the quality/type
of convictions and the disruption of organised crime.
Recipe for Action
• A secure identification of the Fortune 100 criminal syndicates and • priority targets;
• A focus on and disruption of 50 amongst the main crime syndicates • that answer the definitions of the Palermo Convention;
• A visible and greater presence in the courts, manifest in 250 • prosecutions; 125 high-level, 125 tactical benefit;
• 75 High-impact prosecutions that reduce organised crime by a • measurable 25% in specified focus areas;
• Of the convictions, 25 should be racketeering-based and 25 • resulting from money-laundering investigations; and
• 250m under asset forfeiture hold and compensation orders, with • 50m directed to the Criminal Asset Recovery Fund.
Thank You