David Hotte has twenty five years of experience as an international expert on money laundering and terrorist financing, advising bodies such as the European Union, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia.
In the private sector, David Hotte was a senior compliance manager for a French banking group and a consultant for a law firm on financial crime. He has served in the Gendarmerie Nationale. His work has covered Palestine, Sri Lanka, Turkey, China, Laos and Syria, among many others.
David has extensive experience managing programmes of AML/CFT. He is the former Team Leader of the EU-funded project on AML/CFT in the Horn of Africa and is currently the project director of the EU CFT/AML Global Facility.
David Hotte holds a Masters degree in Public Law and Accounting from the University Pantheon-Sorbonne in Paris.
David Hotte is the author of several books on financial crime.

Liam has over 30 years policing experience in The Police Service of Northern Ireland. Having attained the rank of D/Superintendent he investigated all aspects of Serious and Organised Crime, including Covert Financial and National Security investigations.  Liam portfolios included, Witness Protection, Drugs, Firearms, and Economic Crime.
He was responsible for the management of proactive investigations into Organised Crime Gangs and Terrorist Organisations based in Northern Ireland but  operating across multiple jurisdictions. Liam’s investigative successes were  built by working closely with partner agencies, both national and international.
He maximised the use of  financial investigative methodologies, both covert and overt to ensure successful criminal and civil outcomes, and where possible  used appropriate legislation to identify, confiscate and restraint criminal assets.
He played a pivotal role in the successful development and implementation of the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for Assisting Offender Debriefing, a new and innovative tactic in criminal investigations.
His skill and expertise have been recognised and commended by National and International Law Enforcement Agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and An Garda Siochana. (Irish Police Force).

Amb. Mamuka Jgenti is the Key Expert on Judiciary and the Civil Society. His responsibilities in the project cover the activities in relation to judges, prosecutors, CSOs and media.
Apart from extensive theoretical and practical experience in the fields of AML, anti-corruption and fight against terrorism financing, Mr Jgenti has profound knowledge of EU values and principles, as well as in the work of the European institutions and EU support activities.
Amb. Jgenti was involved in approximation of national legislations with the international criminal law standards, as well as in accession of his country to various multilateral treaties and conventions in the criminal field. As a staff member of the Council of Europe, he was responsible for monitoring the implementation of commitments, but also planning, negotiating, implementing, reporting and evaluating the joint EU/CoE programmes of assistance.
In his time as elected official in the CoE intergovernmental structures with the strong participation of EU member states and institutions, Mr Jgenti acquired profound experience in EU legislation in the criminal field. As senior expert in the EU-funded support projects, as well as in his capacity of CSO representative, Mr Jgenti was delivering and presenting EU messages and standards to the institutions of the partner states.

Arnaud Stien is the project’s Key Expert on Regulation, responsible for the technical assistance on financial/non-financial supervision, beneficial ownership, Financial Intelligence Units, and srategic approach.
A lawyer with a Master Degree in Compliance/Financial crime and a MA in International Relations, Mr Stien has more than 15 of years of experience in AML/CFT, both on the operational and supervisory side.
Previously, as the Deputy Head of AMLCFT (Operational Division) at the Banque de France, Mr Stien was responsible for monitoring and analysing suspicious transactions to generate the Suspicious Activity Report. He was the key intermediator for collaboration with the French FIU (Tracfin) and law enforcement authorities.
He also held the role of legal expert in AML/CFT and in the supervision of credit and insurance institutions within the French Prudential and Resolution Authority (ACPR) for seven years.
Mr Stien also implemented the AML/CFT questionnaire to benchmark the national AML/CFT framework for other central banks and has experience in international sanctions compliance. Mr Stien used to be a legal expert in payment systems and market infrastructures oversight.
He is currently pursuing PhD on ‘Comparative study of Tracfin and others FIUs’ and has been a key speaker at various international conferences for AML/CFT.

Alexandre Taymans is the Key Expert on Beneficial Ownership.
Between 2016 and 2021 Alexandre Taymans was in charge, at the Belgian Treasury, of the implementation of the central Beneficial Ownership Register. In this capacity, he developed prime knowledge of the underlying legal, business and IT aspects such projects entail.
Since 2018, Mr Taymans has been working as an International AML/CFT Expert for various international organisations. As such, he has been providing technical assistance to multiple jurisdictions on the implementation of various international AML/CFT standards (e.g. national BO disclosure frameworks, virtual assets, real estate).
Mr Taymans was also an assessor for the OECD’s Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and participated in numerous national and international conferences on the topic of transparency of legal persons and arrangements and Beneficial Ownership, both as speaker and moderator.

Victoria Palau has more than 25 years of experience in European Union and international affairs, especially in international cooperation in the fields of rule of law and human rights. Her experience in management has been developed mainly in posts of responsibility.

She was former Team Leader of the EU regional project EuroMed Justice and has long standing experience in networking and coordination on justice issues with stakeholders at national, regional and international levels. Victoria Palau has extensive work experience within the European Commission (EC) in development cooperation, democratisation, human rights and rule of law projects, as she also worked in the cabinet of the Commissioner responsible for Mediterranean and Middle East relations.

Beforehand, she worked in the EC on cooperation with Latin America. She holds close relationship with different EC services (DG NEAR, DE INTPA, FPI, DG JUST) and EU Delegations.

Prior to becoming the Justice Senior Expert for EU Global Facility on AML-CFT, Victoria Palau was deputy Director for Security, Peace and Development in FIIAPP, the Spanish agency for EU cooperation. With FIIAPP, she was also Resident Twinnig Advisor (RTA) in Turkey and Team Leader of EuroMed Justice.

Besides her law studies, she holds a LL.M. in Public International Law (UCL, University of London), a Master in European Law (ULB, Brussels) and an Executive MBA (ESIC Business and Marketing School, Spain).

Benjamin Bricheux is the Global Facility Coordinator. As such, he acts as a transmission belt between the team of specialised experts and the different components that will allow the Facility to go into action. He keeps a close eye on the operational implementation of the activities, the planning of the Facility’s deadlines, budget and administration. He also supervises the transversal components of the project such as monitoring and evaluation, reporting and communication and visibility. He may also deputise for the Team Leader.
Mr Bricheux is an EU project manager specialised in the field of security and law enforcement who started his career in 2011 in the Central African Republic. Since then, he has gained specific experience in multi-stakeholders coordination, namely through his position as coordinator of the Euromed Police project managed by DG NEAR for which he worked between 2016 and 2020.

A new project accountant is joining us soon!

Andreea Ohota holds the position of project assistant for the EU GF-AML/CFT project in Brussels. An economist with a PhD in quality management, she has a successful record of increasing productivity, managing project costs, reducing risks, and keeping projects on schedule for completion.
In partnership with various  project teams, she has implemented leading-edge project support processes in support of set goals and objectives while providing solutions to any operational issues.
Mrs. Ohota has left Romania in 2013 for a Japanese experience, where she worked in the diplomatic sector. In 2018 she came to Brussels where she worked as Presidency Deputy Coordinator for the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU during the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. In this capacity, Mrs. Ohota liaised with EU institutions and Member States.
Mrs. Ohota has a combined experience, working both in the private and public sector, with a focus on multinational environments that helped her acquire an excellent management of priorities, ease of communication and in-depth understanding of tools and technologies.

Alice Andrei joined the EU Global Facility Team as a Project Assistant in 2023. Alice is a highly skilled professional with a strong background in Commerce and Tourism Management. She pursued her undergraduate studies at the Bucharest Academy of Economics Studies. Since 2011, she has been residing in Brussels and pursued a master’s degree in Business Economics, which allowed her to gain a global perspective on economic trends and business strategies. With over 10 years’ experience in the hospitality and events sector, Alice honed her skills in providing exceptional customer service and organising successful events. Throughout her career, Alice has developed a diverse set of skills, including event planning, customer relationship management, and team leadership.