The Malta Police Force said in a statement on Tuesday that it will continue strengthening and reforming the financial crimes investigation department - with human resources, training and equipment, and a plan for relocation of the department.

In a report published last week, the Council of Europe's anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL called on the Maltese authorities to strengthen their practical application of their measures to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

The police have now said that in January of 2018 the financial investigations department was strengthened with the addition of seven inspectors, then totalling 12, whilst in July of the same year a second Superintendent was added to split their attention between money laundering and economic crimes.

The number of sergeants and constables were also increased by 17, going from 41 to 58 police officers - this number is expected to keep on increasing in the near future.

The police are also working on relocating the department into a new building in Santa Venera by the beginning of next year. The three-story building includes parking and brand-new equipment.

With regards to training and equipment, they explained that they are at an advanced stage for the purchasing of i2 software, financed by European Funds.

"This intelligence software will connect different data into a centralized database to facilitate the investigation of financial crimes."

The goal, they explain, is to decrease the amount of illegal activities taking place, such as fraud and money laundering.

"This project is expected to be completed in 18 months, and also incorporates four types of training that more than 30 police officials will go through. The training will relate to the use of the new software, along with other areas in this sector."

The Police Force is also planning to split the work of investigating from prosecuting, which are currently done by the same person (official investigator).

The official investigator will now be tasked with focusing on the investigation, whilst the prosecution will be led by the prosecution office which will be equipped with professional prosecutors trained in this field.