FIU buys PR services and a lot of water

Following the example of other state institutions, the Financial Intelligence Unit also replaces or complements the performance of direct duties with public relations campaigns. One of these, with a budget of 20,000 euros, is currently ongoing, Money Days “Zini naudas li(ī)kumus” (Know the Rules of Money), but the next campaign is planned for the third quarter of the year, with projected funding of up to 42,000 euros.

At the end of the year, the Financial Intelligence Unit also plans to buy a lot of water. Lots of drinking/spring water. For the next two years - also worth up to 42 thousand euros. Maybe they have planned for having a parched mouth after all these talking campaigns.

Duty to educate the public

Public education is a completely formal duty of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau of Latvia (KNAB). It can be read on the office's website.

Functions of KNAB in the field of public relations and education:

* to inform the public about the development trends of corruption and the detected cases of corruption, as well as about the measures taken to prevent and combat corruption;

* to develop and implement a public relations strategy;

* to educate the society in the field of law and ethics;

* to carry out research and analysis of public opinion.

There is nothing similar in the FIU job description:

"The main task of the Financial Intelligence Unit is to collect and analyze financial data, received reports on suspicious transactions in order to transfer the obtained information to Latvian law enforcement authorities for the investigation of money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing cases."

And yet, the FIU spends taxpayers' money on costly publicity campaigns, the usefulness of which could be questioned.

Pipars to make them seem cool

In the latest campaign, implemented by SIA PR Kvadrāts for 20,000, food blogger Rojs Puķe or Pipars was involved as an expert. And here are his findings, published in a paid story on the portal TVNET and FIU website:

"Rojs Puķe says that anyone who uses the Internet can receive an e-mail with a seemingly enticing offer for a gift worth millions of dollars. In addition, these types of e-mails are designed so that a young and inexperienced person would fall for the scammer trap. "Today, believing in such stories seems absurd for me, but it is real and entirely possible," says Rojs Puķe.

And another quote (with the mistakes preserved): “Rojs Puķe, on the other hand, as one of the traps that young people fall into, are quick loan services. "There is no such thing as quick money," says Rojs Puķe in the broadcast and urges young people to understand this and be aware that in order to get money you have to work."

So food blogger Rojs Puķe or Pipars on behalf of FIU has said that we should not trust those Nigerian princes and we should not take quick loans.

What does this have to do with the FIU's mission to provide information for money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing investigations? Exactly nothing. Of course, it is not just the food blogger who is participating in the campaign. PR Kvadrāts has also organized interviews with various businessmen and officials, including the country's main financial intelligence Ilze Znotiņa. "We want to inform entrepreneurs, encourage them to learn to manage risks, to understand them; to address young people and new technology enthusiasts and show the different faces of financial crime,” says Ilze Znotiņa, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, in a statement about the campaign.

Influencers can get excited!

This will not be the only campaign this year. It turns out that the current campaign is the one that didn't take place last year due to the pandemic. This is explained by Znotiņa's representative Zaiga Barvida. However, this year's real campaign is yet to come. It will happen in the fall. The announcement has already been placed in the Electronic Procurement System and can also be read on the procurement monitoring page Mercell:

"Procurement plans: Development, implementation and publicity of the communication campaign concept "Money Days", 2021, 3rd quarter, 10000 Eur - 42000 Eur". Bloggers and influencers can get excited, it is now fashionable to attract them, and the winner of the procurement will probably contract them again - to talk some nonsense about an important institution on the taxpayers' money.

It should be noted that last year the total investment of the FIU in the prosperity of the public relations sector was also significant. A smaller amount - 13,700 euros was paid to the company SIA White Digital for the improvement of the website, design development, programming and maintenance. However, a much larger amount of 120,000 euros was paid to SIA Sabiedrības Informēšanas Centrs (Public Information Center) for the content and technical provision of seminars, discussions, public events and conferences.

The government told them to campaign

It is not quite that the Financial Intelligence Unit has just on its own decided to spend money on public relations and all kinds of campaigning. The approval is recorded in the Cabinet of Ministers Order no. 576 "On the Action Plan for the Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorism and Proliferation Financing for the Period 2020-2022". Point 1.3 instructs the Financial Intelligence Unit and some other responsible authorities:

"To ensure the understanding of law subjects and responsible institutions about the PMLTPF risks inherent in the activities of law subjects, provision of information and training." Meaning, the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. And the following subsections of this section mention seminars, Money Law Days, an improved FIU website, training for law subjects and feedback.

About the world in Znotiņa

Whether absolutely all the social activities of the head of the FIU take place with the approval of the government can only be guessed, because not all are recorded in the traditional communication frameworks of state institutions. It is customary that before the election, MP candidates try to take part in cooking shows, various leisure programs, magazines - with beautiful pictures and reflections on life. If the personality is interesting, the programs are also turn out quite interesting, but they are not related to the political process and the public good. Officials boast in similar programs and publications less frequently, but there are exceptions. Last year, the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit Ilze Znotiņa managed to show up in the women's magazine Una, which writes "About you in the world and the world in you!". Moreover, not somewhere on the further pages that are reserved for paid materials, but on the cover itself with a "dizzying conversation" about how "she paints and organizes carnivals". In one picture, the "hippie girl between flowers and the law" is pictured lazily relaxed in a hammock, in another on the sandy beach. In an airy outfit and a less airy one. Talks about her youth, her great husband and wonderful children, her country house. Also about the road to her new position and the desire for the work of the service to be praised "for the sake of content, not just at the level of PR".

Overall quite lovely. Just what does this type of PR publicity have to do with her job responsibilities as a civil servant or the Cabinet of Ministers Order no. 576? Absolutely nothing.

*****

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