Transnational organised criminal networks often hide huge profits through existing money laundering networks, and in Southeast Asia, tracking illicit financial flows is further complicated as much of the population remains underbanked and informal means of transferring money are regularly utilised.  

Tracing illicit financial flows can help uncover criminal operations, identify both perpetrators and victims, strengthen prosecutions through concrete evidence, and recover assets to strip traffickers of their profits. This approach—commonly referred to as ‘following the money’—relies on anti-money laundering and asset recovery tools that are underpinned by international legal obligations. States are required to implement robust frameworks to combat money laundering and the proceeds of crime, as outlined in key United Nations conventions and the standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), including provisions for freezing, seizing, and confiscating criminal assets. 

The Following the Money in Cases of Trafficking in Persons for Southeast Asian Government Officials e-learning course aims to equip frontline officials with the tools and knowledge to integrate financial investigation techniques into anti-trafficking responses.  

The course was developed by the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) initiative and funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as a resource to support government efforts addressing modern slavery and trafficking in persons in the Asia-Pacific region.  

The course features interactive modules, real-world case examples, and downloadable tools designed to support institutional learning and in-country training. It is available free of charge to government agencies across the Bali Process Membership, and is offered in Bahasa, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, and English. You can learn more and enroll in the self-paced course at this link.  

If you’d like to find out more about how this course can support or be integrated into national or regional level trainings, please email info@rso.baliprocess.net.