Human Trafficking Awareness Series

The Crime in Plain Sight: Insights from the U.S.’s DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking

In recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month this January, ACFCS is presenting a stellar month-long webinar series featuring leading experts in anti-human trafficking efforts. These sessions will provide our community with the latest strategies and insights to help combat this horrific crime.

This opening session will highlight the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) to explore the critical role financial crimes compliance professionals, law enforcement, and financial regulators play to combat human trafficking. This session will provide expert insights into identifying and disrupting the illicit financial networks that enable trafficking operations.

Participants will learn what human trafficking is, how to recognize the indicators, and best practices for collaboration between the financial sector and law enforcement. Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of how financial tools can be leveraged to dismantle these criminal enterprises and protect vulnerable populations.

In this webinar, Rochelle Keyhan of Collective Liberty, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) dedicated to supporting law enforcement in human trafficking investigations will share their ongoing efforts to fight trafficking across the United States. Learn about the critical role NGOs play in identifying trafficking networks, providing victim support, and assisting law enforcement in building cases against traffickers. The session will also highlight how financial institutions can actively contribute by recognizing suspicious transactions, sharing intelligence, and collaborating with NGOs to bring traffickers to justice. Discover how your organization can be part of a unified effort to combat human trafficking.

Labor trafficking remains a significant global issue. Financial institutions, law enforcement, and regulatory bodies play a crucial role in identifying and disrupting the financial flows that enable trafficking networks. This session will provide an in-depth look at how financial crimes compliance frameworks can be leveraged to detect, report, and prevent labor trafficking. Attendees will gain insight into the financial behaviors associated with trafficking operations and learn how to enhance collaboration between financial institutions, law enforcement, and regulators to disrupt these illicit activities.

Key Takeaways:

1. Identifying Red Flags: Understand the financial patterns and transaction red flags commonly associated with labor trafficking and how to incorporate these indicators into your institution's compliance and monitoring programs.
2. Strengthening Partnerships: Explore best practices for fostering stronger collaboration between financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and regulators to share information and coordinate efforts in combating labor trafficking.
3. Regulatory Compliance & Reporting: Learn how to align your financial institution's anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) programs with regulatory requirements to effectively report suspicious activity related to labor trafficking.

Join us for an in-depth look at how the U.S. government is combating child and adult trafficking, as well as labor slavery, both domestically and internationally. This webinar will outline strategies to disrupt trafficking operations by tracking illicit financial flows, collaborating with global partners, and enforcing anti-trafficking laws. Attendees will gain valuable insights into how financial institutions can play a crucial role in these efforts, from detecting suspicious financial activity to strengthening reporting and compliance measures that aid law enforcement in prosecuting traffickers.

This session from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, is aimed at law enforcement, financial investigators, and prosecutors, will explore financial investigative techniques that are pivotal in sex and labor trafficking investigations. Using real-life case studies of Illicit Massage Businesses (IMBs), the session will delve into modern money laundering trends that traffickers use to hide their profits and operations.

Key Learning Points:

1. Financial Investigation Techniques for Trafficking: Learn how financial records, including bank statements, can provide critical leads in trafficking cases. Discover which specific bank records to subpoena, how to spot red flags in financial transactions, and the best practices for analyzing these records for use in legal proceedings.
2. Money Laundering Trends in IMBs: Panelists will review current trends in money laundering that are specifically used in IMBs. You will learn how traffickers hide illegal proceeds, structure transactions, and exploit gaps in the financial system to evade detection.
3. Civil Prosecution Options for Human Trafficking Cases: When pursuing criminal charges isn’t the most effective route, there are powerful civil remedies available. The session will cover alternative legal actions such as civil racketeering suits, nuisance abatement, and actions under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), providing prosecutors with versatile tools to combat trafficking without relying solely on criminal prosecution.

The saying, “We don’t know what we don’t know”, couldn’t ring truer for Compliance professionals. Criminals are becoming smarter by the hour in detection evasion and the average customer is left paying the bill for these actors. This session will address how compliance professionals can better detect and understand what they may be missing within their alert rules.

This webinar will explore the growing threat of human trafficking schemes facilitated through online platforms, with a focus on "pig butchering" scams—a form of investment fraud used by traffickers to exploit victims. The session will delve into how these schemes operate, their intersection with human trafficking networks, and how New York City, specifically Brooklyn, has become a focal point in combating these crimes.

Our subject matter experts from the Virtual Currency Unit in Brooklyn's Distract Attorney's Office as well as a member of the private sector, will discuss innovative strategies being employed by New York’s task forces, cyber units, and legal frameworks to track, disrupt, and prosecute traffickers using online spaces - as well as those employed by other countries.

Participants will gain insight into the critical role of financial intelligence, victim identification, and digital forensics in dismantling trafficking networks that use scam operations to exploit and recruit vulnerable individuals.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the mechanisms and tactics of "pig butchering" scams and how they relate to human trafficking operations.
2. Identify key digital and financial indicators used by law enforcement to track and combat online human trafficking schemes.
3. Explore New York City’s collaborative approach between law enforcement, financial institutions, and tech companies to disrupt trafficking networks.
4. Analyze case studies from Brooklyn’s human trafficking task force to understand real-world applications of intelligence collection and legal strategies.
5. Learn about resources and best practices for identifying and assisting victims of online human trafficking.

Join us for an inspiring session in our Anti-Human Trafficking Series, featuring Jaco Booyens, a global advocate, filmmaker, and founder of Jaco Booyens Ministries. In this powerful webinar, Jaco shares his deeply personal journey of how human trafficking impacted his own family and shaped his mission to combat this heinous crime.

Through his story, you’ll gain insight into the reality of human trafficking, its devastating effects on individuals and families, and the resilience needed to fight back. Learn about the transformative work of Jaco Booyens Ministries, from raising awareness through films and advocacy to directly supporting survivors and influencing public policy.

This session is a must-attend for anyone looking to understand the human side of trafficking and how one person’s tragedy can become a catalyst for global change. Together, we’ll explore how awareness, action, and hope can dismantle the chains of exploitation and bring freedom to the vulnerable.

Key Takeaways:

* Jaco Booyens' personal story and how human trafficking affected his family.
* An overview of Jaco Booyens Ministries’ initiatives and impact
* Practical ways to support anti-trafficking efforts in your community.