The latest figures from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service 2025 annual report reveal financial crime investigations dropped in 2025 compared to 2024.
The Financial Crime Investigation Unit fights domestic financial crime in the Cayman Islands and also helps other police units when aspects of a case involve financial crime.
In 2025 the unit handled 107 investigations, of which 80 were recorded as crimes. That compares to 171 domestic financial crime investigations in 2024.
There was also a drop in international financial crime investigations. The Cayman Islands Bureau of Financial Investigations handles cross-border financial crime, such as money laundering and the financing of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. In 2025 it held 25 investigations, which comprised eight new investigations and 17 ongoing ones. That was down from 47 in 2024, which consisted of 14 investigations started that year and 33 ongoing cases.
As part of its mission to combat financial crime, the police service also tries to recover stolen assets and compensate the victims of financial crime. To that end the bureau managed to identify, trace and protect assets worth US$20 million, of which approximately US$4 million was recovered for the benefit of victims in Cayman or the Cayman Islands government. Again, that figure is down compared to 2024, when the bureau identified US$36 million in assets linked to financial crime.
Cyber crime
The police service also has a Cyber Crime and Digital Forensic Unit, as financial crime and cybercrime are often interlinked. In 2025, that unit supported 285 criminal investigations, of which 47 were cyber dependent crimes. This work involved examining 552 digital devices, such as laptops and phones.
Once again, those numbers were down from 2024 when the unit carried out 295 digital forensic investigations, 74 of which were specifically cyber cases. The unit also examined more devices in 2024, with the total that year coming in at 694.
The Compass reached out to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service for comment on this story but has yet to receive a response.
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