“The close collaboration between the United States Secret Service and our partners here in Georgia is a prime example of how that cooperation can lead to tangible results,” said Maximilian Turcola, the US regional agent in charge of the Sofia, Bulgaria, Secret Service office, at a briefing held at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia as part of a joint operation to arrest members of an organized crime group.

Georgian law enforcement officers, together with their American and Polish counterparts, conducted a large-scale operation to combat cryptocurrency laundering.

According to Maximilian Turcola, close cooperation between relevant authorities is essential in combating such crimes.

“The U.S. Secret Service is best known for protecting the President and Vice President of the United States, but we are a dual-mission organisation, focused on both protection and investigation. Many people don’t know that the Secret Service plays a critical role in protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system by investigating and preventing crimes such as counterfeiting, financial fraud, and cyber-enabled financial crime, and that’s what brings me here today.

In today’s connected world, criminals relentlessly target victims across borders, making their crimes a global threat. It takes a multinational effort of law enforcement partners to detect, disrupt, and dismantle these organisations. The close collaboration between the United States Secret Service and our partners here in Georgia is a prime example of how that cooperation can lead to tangible results, and we are deeply appreciative of the efforts of everyone involved.

In closing, I want to express my gratitude to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia for hosting today’s press conference, and we look forward to their continued partnership,” said Maximilian Trkulia.