Simon Marsh is Head of Africa at the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).

He joined the Basel Institute in 2013 and worked closely with Kenya's law enforcement agencies for several years, helping them to recover illicit assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Working hand in hand with investigators and prosecutors on complex cases of financial crime, he provides training, mentoring and strategic legal and policy advice, with a focus on regional and international cooperation.

Since 2021, he has led the development of ICAR’s work across the Eastern and Southern Africa region as well as fostering engagement between the jurisdictions. In addition to his core role, Simon was instrumental in the establishment of the Basel Institute’s Green Corruption programme, which applies a follow-the-money approach to environmental crimes. In 2016, he worked with colleagues to co-found the Working Group on Cryptocurrencies and Criminal Finances, an initiative of the Basel Institute on Governance, Europol and INTERPOL.

Simon spent over 13 years as a Police Officer with the Metropolitan Police in London, where he was selected in 2004 as Detective Sergeant and in 2010 for the rank of Detective Inspector. He has been specialising in asset recovery, money laundering and corruption since 2006. Simon holds an MA in Terrorism, International Crime and Global Security from Coventry University in the UK, where he occasionally lectures on money laundering and organised crime.