Experts from the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) conducted a five-day Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery training workshop  in Ukraine from 27 to 31 August 2018.

The workshop was part of a 2017 agreement between the Basel Institute on Governance and National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to help NABU strengthen its capacity to conduct complex investigations into cases of grand corruption, money laundering and related financial crimes through case consultancy and training.

Among the 19 participants were representatives of NABU, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), State Financial Monitoring Service (SFMS) and newly established Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). This integrated approach gave participants the opportunity to exchange experience, discuss challenges and establish networks.

The workshop covered topics such as money laundering, corruption and mutual legal assistance (MLA) with a focus on the Ukrainian legal framework. Mr Rudolf Wyss, a Swiss expert working for ICAR, provided guidelines and best practices to secure admissible evidence and recover illicit assets from Switzerland through effective MLA requests.

The highlight was the complex simulated case the participants had to "solve" throughout the week. This hands-on approach encouraged them to challenge their existing investigative strategy and consider new paradigms. Participants also had the chance to enhance their skills in tracing stolen assets and proving illegal income using financial investigative tools.

One prosecutor from SAPO said that he found the training very helpful and hoped for similar training opportunities for his colleagues.