Bangladesh Asset Recovery Task Force Workshop February 2008
From February 27th to March 7th 2008 the ICAR team conducted an extensive training program in Basel Switzerland for members of the Bangladesh StAR Inter Agency Task Force on Tracing and Recovering Stolen Assets. The team members included prosecutors, investigators and high level Bangladesh Central Bank and FIU officials. The training involved a 6 day complex practical exercise in which the participants investigated a simulated corruption and money laundering case. The exercise was supplemented with lectures on the United Nations Convention against Corruption, financial investigative techniques, money laundering, mutual legal assistance and asset recovery. Legal experts specializing in MLA who provided country specific assistance included Umar Saifuddin Jaafar, Malaysian central authority, George Simpson London Metropolitan Police Detective Sergeant and Gary Balch, Head of Confiscation Organised Crime Division Crown Prosecution Service, London. The program was sponsored by the World Bank and ICAR.
Asset Recovery Training in Tanzania December 2007
From the 3 - 13 December 2007, ICAR delivered a 2 week training program in capacity building for the investigation and prosecution of corruption and money laundering crimes and to provide technical assistance on specific cases. The program was attended by prosecutors and investigators from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption (PCCB) to enhance their ability to handle mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests and to succeed in cooperation with foreign jurisdictions to repatriate stolen assets.
Asset Recovery Training in Bangladesh November 2007
ICAR delivered a tailor-made training program 3rd - 6th November 2007, in Dhaka. The key objective of this training program was to enhance the capacity of the Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies in prosecuting international bribery and money laundering cases and repatriating the funds stolen in connection with these cases. Most importantly, the training was designed to assist them in enhancing the staff’s ability to trace assets and to handle mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests and to succeed in cooperation with foreign jurisdictions to repatriate stolen assets. This program involved experts from ICAR, the World Bank and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. The training also helped to undertake an effective capacity assessment of skills and needs which led to a more extensive program of training organized in March 2008.
Asset Recovery Training in Indonesia September 2007
During the period 17-28 September 2007 representatives of ICAR visited Jakarta, Indonesia to undertake an intermediate programme of training on asset recovery with members of both the Anti Corruption Comission (KPK) and the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
This programme included instructional sessions on law enforcement practice in the field of asset tracing and recovery and consisted of the following elements:
- An overview of the fundamentals of asset recovery
- Investigative practices of law enforcement in the field of asset tracing and recovery.
- An overview of the basic elements of money laundering
- Criminal forfeiture of assets
- Civil asset forfeiture (non conviction based)
- Civil proceedings
- A detailed analysis of leading international asset recovery cases - Abacha, Marcos and Montesinos
- A detailed analysis of a number of selected Indonesian cases
- A broad overview of mutual legal assistance (MLA) with a specific emphasis on the Singapore model
- Case management tools
Future Trainings:
ICAR is currently engaged in delivering a series of asset recovery trainings in Madagascar, Malaysia, South America and Ukraine in 2008.