In , a group of key stakeholders in the global fight against organ trafficking convened to form the Declaration of Istanbul, which after Istanbul, created crucial new definitions around organ trafficking and transplant tourism, and developed promising practices to tackle the organ trade.
Delmonico was one of co-founders of the Declaration of Istanbul and consequently, the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group DICG , an international body tasked with implementing the principles of the Declaration.
He said the following:. In addition, the Council of Europe has adopted a Convention Against Trafficking in Human Organs in which recently went into effect in January of More recent events, such as the February Summit on Organ Trafficking hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City, have also shed light on the state of the organ trade.
As of today, the extent of organ trafficking is still unknown as to the number of such transplants performed annually. Furthermore, the full integration of the issue within the human trafficking field as a whole is still lacking. In order to effectively combat organ trafficking and also raise its visibility among other forms of transnational organized crimes, it is vital to engage in effective public-private partnerships.
The private sector, including the financial industry, can be essential in this global fight. Advisor: Dr. You must be logged in to post a comment. Skip to content. Low Supply, High Demand When describing organ trafficking, there is often confusion as to how this crime can happen. Money Laundering Indicators While it may be difficult for banks to detect financial transactions related to organ trafficking, it is not impossible as there are some indicators available.
These red flags could include the following indicators and may be innocuous on their own but when combined, could present potentially suspicious behavior: Wire transfers to entities in high-risk jurisdictions See Figure A with names that include a variation of medical. Project Protect Expands: Project Organ As previously stated, reporting on transactions related to organ trafficking is no easy feat.
Key stakeholders involved in arranging and facilitating international organ transplantation OSCE. It is important for the AML compliance professional to note that this network of stakeholders may operate within normal businesses i. However illegal activity often happens outside of normal business hours i. To assist AML compliance professionals understand how such networks operate, three previous cases will be examined to show how they operated.
They paid kidney suppliers for these operations. The hospital group admitted receiving ZAR3. As part of the plea bargain the charges against the CEO and the group were withdrawn; allegations that a significant number of transplants had been made at associated group facilities in Johannesburg and Cape Town were not investigated nor pursued.
To legitimise the surgery, documents were allegedly forged to show that the donor and the recipient were related — a requirement for organ transplants in South Africa.
Separately, a Brazilian court sentenced kidney-donor recruiters IdS and GT ,as well as other intermediaries, to imprisonment for their roles in the syndicate.
Payments to nephrologist JK, who was allegedly instrumental in the scheme, and fled to Canada, were believed to have been made into his Canadian bank account. A key point in this case was that, until , it was common practice for health insurance companies in Israel to reimburse for transplants performed abroad, irregardless of their legitimacy. In many instances the organisations are still operating; undoubtedly, some or all of them are using the financial system. In , a respected urologist LD established a relationship with a Turkish surgeon Dr YS , an infamous transplant surgeon, to perform organ transplants at the Medicus clinic, in Pristina, Kosovo, which at that time were strictly controlled.
LD, AD and SH were convicted in and sentenced to substantial prison sentences that were amended on appeal in and Investigators have placed in him in several locations, notorious for illicit transplants, including Azerbaijan, South Africa, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Turkey.
Case 2 Medicare Visualisation created using Quantexa software. IR claimed that he fabricated cover stories in order to fool hospital employees into believing that the transplants were altruistic donations. He further claimed that he had been arranging kidney transplants for a period of 10 years. Of note is that several of the finest private hospitals in the East Coast were allegedly used for the procedure.
Case 3 United Lifeline Visualisation created using Quantexa software. As highlighted, the illicit organ transplantation business is highly lucrative and commands large sums of money from the recipients, much of the profits going to the brokers and surgeons who facilitate this trade. The case visualisations have shown that often there is a sophisticated network of corporate entities associated with the network, that may be directly involved in facilitation, or indirectly used for laundering proceeds.
The role of health insurance companies in identifying suspicious transplantation activity can not be understated; some countries have legislated to stop the use of health insurance to pay for illegal transplants overseas with profound effect. Bain et al identified a number of potential red flag indicators that financial investigators could include into their monitoring regime to identify potentially suspicious behaviour:. China is grappling with a huge shortage of organs and has struggled to meet demand through public donations.
According to local reports, the trafficking ring included four high-ranking doctors, some of whom worked in organ procurement in hospitals. Local media said they would target car crash victims or patients who suffered from cerebral haemorrhage at the Huaiyuan County People's Hospital in Anhui. The hospital's head of the intensive care unit, Yang Suxun, would approach a patient's family members and ask if they would consent to donating their loved one's organs.
The family members would sign what would later turn out to be fake consent forms. The person would then be wheeled out of the hospital in the middle of the night, and put into a van made to look like an ambulance where doctors would remove the organs. The organs would then be sold to individuals or other hospitals which members of the trafficking ring contacted secretly, according to reports.
They were eventually found out when the son of one of the victims grew suspicious. Several months after his mother's death in , Shi Xianglin rechecked the documents his family received when they agreed to her organ donation, and found several discrepancies - including blank sections in the forms.
He then discovered there were no records of his mother's donation held either with provincial authorities or the China Organ Donation Administrative Centre in Beijing.
He told local news outlet Dazhongwang that when he asked Yang about this, he was immediately offered a large sum of money to "keep mum".
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