This session features country efforts to support international cooperation for asset recovery, highlighting the importance of technical assistance with a case study from Kenya and the IACCC, and domestic efforts, including by India, to strengthen mechanisms for asset recovery cases under UNCAC.

This special event takes place in hybrid format at the 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption in Doha, Qatar. It is co-organised by the Basel Institute on Governance, India, International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC) and the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative.

Speakers

• Iker Lekuona, Director, International Centre for Asset Recovery, Basel Institute on Governance (moderator)
  Abdi Ahmed Mohamud, Chief Executive, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Kenya
• Michael Petkov, Deputy Head, International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre; Intelligence Manager and Financial Investigator, UK National Crime Agency
• Representative of the StAR Initiative.
• Speakers from India and other national authorities to be confirmed.

Details and online registration

• Date and time: Tuesday 16 December: 17:30–18:20 AST | 15:30–16:20 CET
• Location: Room 1, Sheraton Doha Grand Resort and Convention Hotel
• Register for virtual participation

Further details

In the two decades since UNCAC came into force, new approaches and best practices for international cooperation in corruption and asset recovery have flourished. Yet successful cross-border asset recovery remains the exception, particularly for countries still in the early stages of building their capacity.

Much attention is given to improving cooperation mechanisms, but the real challenge often lies in making them work in practice. Obstacles include:

• Weaknesses in the asset recovery chain – from investigation and prosecution to management of seized and confiscated assets.
• Limited experience tracing assets internationally and using formal and informal mutual legal assistance mechanisms to freeze and confiscate assets in financial centres abroad. 
• A lack of trust and working relationships across jurisdictions with different legal systems, cultures and languages.

Overcoming these barriers is critical as financial systems evolve at a dizzying speed, offering ever more ways for criminals to transfer, launder and hide illicit gains. And with foreign aid shrinking, returned assets are urgently needed to boost public budgets and strengthen law enforcement and justice systems.

This session will spotlight real-world cases where targeted technical assistance unlocked progress, including a USD 1.8 million settlement in Kenya in a corruption case against a former county governor, supported by intelligence from the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.

These cases show how well-designed technical assistance can strengthen every link in the asset recovery chain, from detecting illicit assets to their return and reinvestment. This delivers value for money and builds long-term capacity. When success breeds success, more cooperation follows, more assets are recovered and more can be invested for the public good.

The panel will also cover how to identify technical assistance needs for the UNCAC Implementation Review Mechanism second phase.

Background reading

• International cooperation in the Migori County corruption case (Case Study by the Basel Institute on Governance, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Kenya and International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre).
• Colombia–Guernsey cooperation leads to successful non-conviction based forfeiture of illicit assets (November 2024)