Description

Non-conviction based forfeiture laws are increasingly recognised as a powerful way to recover illicit assets when traditional criminal confiscation is not possible – helping to ensure that “crime doesn’t pay”. Laws vary per country, but typically allow the use of judicial procedures to forfeit or confiscate criminal assets without the need for a specific criminal conviction. 

Participants conduct a country-specific simulated investigation in multidisciplinary teams, in which they identify, seize and forfeit assets without obtaining a criminal conviction.

The case involves the Director of Procurement in the Ministry of Education, who seems to live a fancy lifestyle and own luxurious assets directly or through complex legal arrangements. He uses a maze of financial transactions to disguise the source, location and ownership of the proceeds of his suspected corruption.

Participants working in groups identify and follow leads and gather over 50 pieces of documentary evidence. They analyse bank account data, cryptocurrency transactions and mobile money records, as well as hear key witnesses in order to identify assets and develop the evidence. They then employ their country’s relevant non-conviction based forfeiture legislation strategically to recover the illicit assets from the suspect.

Tailored instruction and group discussions provide participants with the skills and knowledge to identify the strategies and techniques needed to approach the case.

Participants learn to:

• Differentiate between conviction- and non conviction based objectives and procedures.
• Navigate the key principles of the relevant non-conviction based forfeiture legislation, including evidentiary requirements.
• Use appropriate tools to investigate, preserve and forfeit assets.
• Navigate differences in legal provisions and approaches.
• Cooperate across international borders in non-conviction based forfeiture cases.

In their own words

“I’m now more confident about the process of forfeiting assets through the civil route, which is also a deterrent to economic crime.”

Interested in this training course for your government agency?

Learn more about the training programmes of our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) and our uniquely effective approach.

For more information, contact training@baselgovernance.org.