Interview with Todd Nevins

Published February 15, 2017

Mr. Nevins- Lead Instructor during the CVE – Threat Finance Course

This month we are privileged to feature one of RTC’s most famous and seasoned instructors, Todd Nevins. Todd is one of the very first instructors to facilitate a training delivery on Financial Investigations and has made numerous trips to deliver numerous trainings at the RTC. Let’s read more about what he has to say as he shares his experience below:

Tell us about yourself and your law enforcement career?

I was a U.S. Federal Agent for thirty one years. I worked for the Internal Revenue Service (Criminal Investigation Division) and the US Customs Service which later became Homeland Security. I worked financial investigations, money laundering, narcotics and terrorist financing cases. Many of these cases were International in scope which gave me an appreciation of working with partner nations. I try to present the advantages of sharing information with other agencies as well as Partner Nations.

Can you share some of the experience and knowledge gained through out your career?

When facilitating the courses I like to share with the participants my successes as well as my failures. I prefer to share real life experiences as opposed to just book knowledge. I like to share with the participants the value of using financial investigations in their terrorism and other criminal cases. I try to take away the unfamiliarity of financial records and the best practices of working with these records. I also like to share my experiences of working with other agencies in Task Force. Each Agency brings a certain expertise to a Task Force that is extremely valuable to these transnational cases.

We know you’ve been to the RTC multiple times to train law enforcement officers on financial related topics, how has it been encountering various working law enforcement groups and different Instructor teams.

The RTC does an outstanding job by bringing participants from multiple agencies across the African continent. The success of the classes is partly due to the participants varied backgrounds; we’ve had Attorneys, Investigators, Analysts and Regulatory personnel in these classes. The interaction between the participants has led to appreciation of the obstacles faced by each other. The interaction between the prosecutors and investigators has been tremendous. A goal of all investigators is to have their cases successfully prosecuted. The prosecutors want their cases to result in convictions. By bringing the two groups together, expectations for a successful case can be shared.

Mr. Nevins giving an opening remark during the CVE – Threat Finance Course

Thus far, how will you evaluate the success of the RTC program?

I believe that the RTC has delivered quality programs to the participants and has become a force multiplier in fighting Violent Extremism and Transnational crime. I regularly receive emails (which I encourage) from participants detailing their successes in utilizing financial investigative techniques. I have met RTC alumni while teaching at the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Academy and they have shared their success stories with me and the other instructors. The networking aspects of the RTC are a success. Most complex cases involve Transnational Criminal activity that is difficult to successfully prosecute without the assistance of neighboring countries.

Looking in to the future - how do you see the RTC program evolving to handle emerging trends of Violent Extremism in the ECOWAS Region?

The RTC program has evolved by producing relevant and updated courses that deal with Violent Extremism in the ECOWAS Region. The courses provide updated case scenarios that provide the participants with challenging investigations and the ability to present the prosecutors with a case ready for trial.

Finally, what are your impressions about my beautiful country –Ghana?

Ghana is the gem of West Africa. I enjoy the friendly people that make me feel very welcomed. The Accra infrastructure has greatly improved since I first started teaching in Ghana in 2011. I have really enjoyed your local cuisine and the hospitality of all that I have encountered.

Post by Esther Afari . Esther is one of the Delegate/Alumni Coordinators at the West Africa Regional Training Center. Email her at info@westafricartc.org