Following ICAR’s Advanced Operational Analysis training workshop at the Financial Intelligence Unit of Ecuador (UAFE) from 13–17 May 2019, a panel comprising representatives of the UAFE, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the Anti-money Laundering Unit of the National Police of Ecuador discussed the challenges of coordinating and harmonising efforts to fight money laundering and asset recovery.
Elmer Chirre, Peru's Specialised Prosecutor for Corruption, and Amado Enco, Specialised Anti-Corruption State Attorney, have jointly recovered over PEN 65 million (USD 19.5 million) in the first successful asset recovery case related to Operation Car Wash.
The Basel Institute's Peru team is launching a new free virtual course in open government. Running from 3 June to 30 June 2019, the four online modules cover:
Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action at the Basel Institute, gave the opening speech at the 3rd Swiss Global Compact Dialogue today in the Swiss lakeside town of Thun.
The Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya (FRACCK), agreed and signed by the Governments of Kenya, Jersey, Switzerland and the UK in 2018 with support from the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR), is already generating strong interest for its "innovative" and "novel" approach to asset return.
These were the words of Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, Officer-in-Charge of the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch of the UNODC, during a May 7-9 International Expert Meeting on the Return of Stolen Assets.
Peru's pioneering Public Finance Management Experts Network has continued to expand, with the Andean city of Cusco being the latest to join.
Experts from the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery and country office in Peru conducted a Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery training workshop in Quito, Ecuador from 6–10 May 2019.
The High Court of Piura in northwestern Peru has announced it will set up a specialised court for cases relating to a new law on extinción de dominio (which roughly translates as "extinction of possession"), a form of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.
Kenya's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered 19 corruptly acquired assets worth KES 2,730,571,000 (over USD 27 million) in the first four months of 2019 alone. The assets – a mix of cash and landed properties, including a fire station, Kenya Railways land and a beachfront property – are being returned to the public treasury, along with significant fines paid by individuals convicted of corruption and bribery.
The story of José Velásquez, former student of the Public Finance Management Diploma of our SECO-funded Subnational Public Finance Management Programme in Peru, offers an insight into how smart initiatives to build capacity among public servants can have a real impact. José has won a scholarship to continue his studies at the University of Chile. He plans to return afterwards to his home country in order to apply his new skills and knowledge to improve public financial management processes in Peru.