[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 122 (Friday, June 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39191-39193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15858]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Justice Assistance

[OJP(BJA)-1284]


Program Announcement for Financial Crime-Free Communities Support 
(C-FIC) Anti-Money Laundering Grant Program

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 
Justice.

ACTION: Notice of solicitation.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of 
Justice are requesting applications for the Financial Crime-Free 
Communities Support (C-FIC) Anti-Money Laundering Grant Program.

DATES: Applications must be received by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, July 24, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested applicants must obtain an application kit from 
BJA's Web site at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/new1.htm or at 
www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#mlgrant. The application kit is also 
available from the Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse at 1-800-
688-4252 or the DOJ Response Center at 1-800-421-6770. (See ``Format'' 
and ``Delivery Instructions'' later in this announcement for 
instructions on required standards and the address to which 
applications must be sent.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles M. (Bud) Hollis, Senior 
Program Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 202-616-3218. [This is 
not a toll-free number.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose

    The purpose of this program is to provide state/local grant 
assistance to

[[Page 39192]]

detect, prevent, and suppress money laundering and related financial 
crimes.

Background

    The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the U.S. Department 
of Justice (Justice) oversee the majority of the Federal Government's 
anti-money laundering enforcement and regulatory efforts. Together, 
Treasury and Justice produce the annual National Money Laundering 
Strategy. To strengthen Treasury's partnerships with State and local 
governments in the fight against money laundering, Congress established 
the Financial Crime-Free Communities Support (C-FIC) Anti-Money 
Laundering Grant Program.
    The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the Office 
of Justice Programs (OJP) within Justice, supports innovative programs 
that strengthen the Nation's criminal justice system. BJA's primary 
mission is to provide leadership and a wide range of assistance to 
local criminal justice agencies to make America's communities safer. To 
accomplish this mission, BJA provides funding, training, technical 
assistance, and information to State and community criminal justice 
programs, emphasizing the coordination of Federal, State, and local 
efforts.
    Treasury and Justice (BJA and OJP) will jointly implement the C-FIC 
Anti-Money Laundering Grant Program.

Authority

    In the Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act of 1998, 
Pub. L. 105-310 (Oct. 30, 1998), Congress directed Treasury to 
establish a program to provide funds to State and local law enforcement 
agencies to detect, prevent, and suppress money laundering and related 
financial crimes whether related to narcotics or other underlying 
offenses. State and local enforcement officials, including regulatory 
officials, and State and local prosecutors are aptly suited to identify 
potential money laundering activity and to adjust enforcement and 
prosecution efforts to local conditions.
    Treasury, OJP, and BJA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) to govern the administration of the C-FIC Program. C-FIC grants 
are to be used as seed money for State and local programs that seek to 
address money laundering systems within their jurisdictions. C-FIC 
grants will help State and local communities to marshal information and 
expertise to build innovative approaches to money laundering 
enforcement and prosecution. C-FIC can also provide State and local 
recipients with training and technical assistance to combat these 
crimes.
    Through this competitive solicitation for applications, Treasury 
and Justice encourage State and local law enforcement agencies and 
prosecutor's offices to identify emerging or chronic money laundering 
issues within their jurisdictions and propose innovative strategies for 
addressing those issues.

Grant Applications

    Applications must adhere to the administrative requirements 
outlined in this document and follow the format prescribed in the 
Selection Criteria. Applications not adhering to the administrative 
requirements or the prescribed format will not be considered. 
Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of expert practitioners (peer 
review), who will make award recommendations to BJA; BJA in turn will 
review and forward recommendations to Treasury. Treasury will then 
select the applications to be awarded. BJA will award the C-FIC grants 
and monitor the individual projects.

Eligibility Requirements

    Applicants are limited by statute to State and local law 
enforcement agencies or prosecutor's offices. State attorneys general, 
district attorneys, and law enforcement agencies may apply. 
Partnerships and interagency collaborations are encouraged; however, a 
State or local law enforcement agency or State or local prosecutor must 
be the applicant.

Selection Criteria

    Applications must propose strategies to develop or enhance State 
and local programs that seek to address money laundering systems within 
their jurisdictions. The following criteria will be considered in the 
selection of the initial C-FIC grant awardees during FY 2000. Each 
submission must answer the following questions in the order presented 
below. List each question by number, followed by your answer. Papers 
not following this format will be removed from the review process.
    1. What specific money laundering-related problem(s) in your 
jurisdiction does your proposal address? (20 points)
    Describe and/or demonstrate that the jurisdiction is focusing on a 
significant money laundering problem or risk, in a manner consistent 
with the National Money Laundering Strategy. Each application is 
required to include a preliminary threat assessment that identifies the 
most significant money laundering risks to be addressed using C-FIC 
grant funds. The use of FinCEN's Gateway Program as a vehicle for two-
way information exchange is strongly encouraged.
    2. Specifically, how will the award of C-FIC grant funds be used to 
accomplish your proposal's objectives? (25 points)
    Provide an overview of your initiative. Make certain that clear and 
strong links exist between what you are proposing and how it will 
address the problem(s) you described in Question 1. This criterion is 
seeking innovative approaches. Are you proposing a method to 
understand, investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those involved in money 
laundering systems?

    Note: The grant funds should not be used to fund investigative 
efforts focused primarily on the predicate crimes that generate 
launderable proceeds.

    3. How will you regularly measure outcomes for your program 
throughout its operation? (10 points)
    Each applicant should submit an analysis of how it will target the 
problem that it seeks to address and how it will measure its success. 
The application must contain at least three (3) quantitative 
performance measures and discuss how the applicant (and program 
auditors) can assess those measures. Effectiveness need not be measured 
in terms of immediate arrests or cash seizures, although such 
statistics may be relevant. The applicant must also provide assurances 
that an entity conducting an evaluation of the applicant's performance 
under the grant, or from which the applicant receives information, has 
experience in gathering data related to money laundering and related 
financial crimes (31 U.S.C. 5352(a)(2)(C)).

    Note: Each selected applicant will be required to assess the 
level of cooperation between it and the Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies and regulatory agencies 
involved in fighting money laundering and related financial crimes.


    4. How will agencies collaborate in the project? Include signed 
copies of all interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding 
(MOUs). Include a description of proposed or existing partnerships and 
how State and local prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, and relevant 
regulatory officials will be incorporated. Also describe how 
information from appropriate academic or research disciplines will be 
integrated into your proposal. (25 points)
    List your partners, what role they play in your strategy, and 
whether this is a new or existing collaboration.

    Note: Applicants who propose coordinating activities with any 
relevant

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High Risk Money Laundering and Financial Crime Areas (HIFCAs) will 
be considered favorably for a C-FIC grant award. The National Money 
Laundering Strategy for 2000 designated three geographic HIFCAs--New 
York/Northern New Jersey, Los Angles, and San Juan'and one money 
laundering system for the smuggling of bulk cash across the Texas 
and Arizona borders. Collaboration is strongly encouraged in the 
following manner: (a) Coordination with the action team of a 
designated HIFCA site, including a statement of endorsement by the 
head(s) of the HIFCA Action Team, and (b) participation with 
appropriate regulatory agencies.

    5. What is the projected budget for the project? Use the 
appropriate worksheet included in the BJA Application Kit. (20 points)
    The budget must describe not only the costs of the program, but the 
cost-benefits to the jurisdiction.

    Note: The applicants should describe how the use of the C-FIC 
grant funds can result in progress being made against money 
laundering activity and describe how the grant will impact the money 
laundering target site after the grant period has concluded.


Format

    Applicants must submit 10 copies of their proposal. To be 
considered for funding, proposals must include the following:

     All forms found in the BJA C-FIC Application Kit 
(available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/new1.htm or at 
www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#mlgrant, or by calling the Bureau of 
Justice Assistance Clearinghouse at 1-800-688-4252 or the DOJ 
Response Center at 1-800-421-6770).
     A detailed narrative describing the proposed project. 
The narrative must address each of the Selection Criteria described 
below in the sequence shown. The narrative portion must not exceed 
30 pages.
     A budget that reflects the estimated cost of the 
activities described in the proposal.
     A copy of your State's money laundering statute and any 
other relevant State or local applicable authorization to 
investigate and/or prosecute money laundering and related financial 
crimes. Applicants should include the basis, if any, for their 
authority to seize and/or forfeit assets.
     A resume of the proposed project director highlighting 
information that clearly indicates his or her experience in money 
laundering enforcement and/or prosecution.


    Note: Federal law requires that, to the extent that monies are 
received by the grantee via asset forfeiture as a result of efforts 
funded by the grant, a C-FIC grant recipient must agree to return C-
FIC monies awarded, up to the amount of the award, whether or not 
the forfeiture occurs during the period of the grant (31 U.S.C. 
5352(c)(1)).


    The proposal must be submitted on 8\1/2\-by 11-inch paper in 
standard 12-point font. The narrative portions of the proposal must be 
double-spaced.

Award Period

    Up to 10 awards will be made for up to 18 months.

Award Amount

    For FY 2000, applicants may request funding of up to $300,000, 
which is expected to be the maximum Federal contribution available for 
each award. Recipients of FY 2000 C-FIC grants will be eligible to 
apply for future C-FIC grants at the appropriate time.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number

    For this program, the CFDA number, which is required on Standard 
Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance, is 16.580. This form 
is included in the BJA C-FIC Application Kit, which can be obtained 
by accessing the BJA's Web site at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/new1.htm or at www.ncjrs.org/fedgrant.htm#mlgrant. The application 
kit is also available by calling the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
Clearinghouse at 1-800-688-4252 or the DOJ Response Center at 1-800-
421-6770.

Delivery Instructions

    Ten copies of the application must be mailed or delivered to: 
Bureau of Justice Assistance, Attention: BJA Control Desk, 5640 
Nicholson Lane, Suite 300, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

Due Date

    The proposal must be RECEIVED at the address above no later than 5 
p.m. eastern time, July 24, 2000. Proposals delivered after the 
deadline will not be considered. BJA will not grant extensions of the 
deadline or accept faxed submissions.

Contact

    For further information, contact Charles M. (Bud) Hollis, Senior 
Program Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 202-616-3218, or send an 
e-mail inquiry to [email protected].

Suggested References

    The National Money Laundering Strategy for 2000, (March 2000) 
(U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Justice, 
available at www.treas.gov/press/releases/docs/ml2000.pdf.
    The National Money Laundering Strategy for 1999, (September 
1999) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Justice), 
available at www.treas.gov/press/releases/99report.htm.


    Dated: June 19, 2000.
Nancy E. Gist,
Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance.
[FR Doc. 00-15858 Filed 6-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P