[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":609},["ShallowReactive",2],{"publication-case-study-1-serwamba-case-achieving-ugandas-first-successful-money-laundering":3,"related-case-study-1-serwamba-case-achieving-ugandas-first-successful-money-laundering":194},[4],{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"date_created":8,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":20,"link_internal":22,"link_external":26,"featured":19,"topics":27,"languages":29,"type":30,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":7,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"image":32,"countries":43,"tags":73,"pdf":154,"authors":176},2226,"published",null,"2022-09-06T14:10:43.000Z","2026-06-02T14:09:01.000Z",2270,"case-study-1-serwamba-case-achieving-ugandas-first-successful-money-laundering","Case Study 1: The Serwamba case: achieving Uganda’s first successful money laundering convictions","This case study explains how Ugandan prosecutors obtained the first ever convictions under the 2013 Anti-Money Laundering Act, overcoming numerous challenges in relation to the financial investigation, prosecution, international cooperation and asset management.\n\nThis landmark case blazes a trail not just for Uganda but for other countries to prosecute cases of money laundering and recover illicit assets. The analysis sets out the investigation strategy and shows how the prosecutors overcame challenges in relation to conducting the parallel financial investigation, dealing with a vast amount of information and long timescales, securing the cooperation of accomplices as witness, obtaining information from abroad through informal cooperation channels, and managing the confiscated assets (cash, vehicles, land).\n\n### Open-access licence and acknowledgements\n\nThis publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).\n\nSuggested citation: Walugembe, Tom. 2020. “The Serwamba case: achieving Uganda’s first successful money laundering convictions.” *Case Study* 1, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: baselgovernance.org\u002Fcase-studies.\n\n ","","English",2020,"Basel Institute on Governance","2020-05-01",false,[21],"Asset Recovery",[23],{"url":24,"caption":25},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications?type=Case%20Study"," View all Case Studies",[],[28],"Asset Recovery and Enforcement",[15],[31],"Case Study",{"id":33,"storage":34,"filename_disk":35,"filename_download":36,"title":37,"type":38,"created_on":8,"modified_on":8,"charset":7,"filesize":39,"width":40,"height":41,"duration":7,"embed":7,"description":7,"location":7,"tags":7,"metadata":42,"focal_point_x":7,"focal_point_y":7,"tus_id":7,"tus_data":7,"uploaded_on":8},"af1ba93b-3221-45b4-a639-fb56bb27ecc5","local","af1ba93b-3221-45b4-a639-fb56bb27ecc5.jpg?itok=7W-ERTvc","cover-220929-Case-Study-01-Page-1.jpg?itok=7W-ERTvc","Cover of case study 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investigations",{"id":61,"publications_id":123,"tags_id":135},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":8,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":33,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":124,"link_internal":125,"link_external":127,"featured":19,"topics":128,"languages":129,"type":130,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":7,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":131,"tags":132,"pdf":133,"authors":134},[21],[126],{"url":24,"caption":25},[],[28],[15],[31],[45],[58,59,60,61,62],[64],[66],{"id":136,"name":137},1309,"Informality",{"id":62,"publications_id":139,"tags_id":151},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":8,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":33,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":140,"link_internal":141,"link_external":143,"featured":19,"topics":144,"languages":145,"type":146,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":7,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":147,"tags":148,"pdf":149,"authors":150},[21],[142],{"url":24,"caption":25},[],[28],[15],[31],[45],[58,59,60,61,62],[64],[66],{"id":152,"name":153},1377,"Technology",[155],{"id":64,"publications_id":156,"directus_files_id":168},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":8,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":33,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":157,"link_internal":158,"link_external":160,"featured":19,"topics":161,"languages":162,"type":163,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":7,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":164,"tags":165,"pdf":166,"authors":167},[21],[159],{"url":24,"caption":25},[],[28],[15],[31],[45],[58,59,60,61,62],[64],[66],{"id":169,"storage":34,"filename_disk":170,"filename_download":171,"title":171,"type":172,"folder":173,"uploaded_by":47,"created_on":8,"modified_by":7,"modified_on":8,"charset":7,"filesize":174,"width":7,"height":7,"duration":7,"embed":7,"description":175,"location":7,"tags":7,"metadata":7,"focal_point_x":7,"focal_point_y":7,"tus_id":7,"tus_data":7,"uploaded_on":8},"e2e079ed-c5b4-40cc-b1ed-3dbc2d479df0","e2e079ed-c5b4-40cc-b1ed-3dbc2d479df0.pdf","220929-case-study-01.pdf","application\u002Fpdf","67f22e04-d26f-4baa-b91f-acc5f89d87f5",460382,"Download PDF",[177],{"id":66,"publications_id":178,"authors_id":190},{"id":5,"status":6,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":8,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":9,"nid":10,"slug":11,"image":33,"title":12,"body":13,"citation":14,"language":15,"year":16,"publisher":17,"date_published":18,"external":19,"topic":179,"link_internal":180,"link_external":182,"featured":19,"topics":183,"languages":184,"type":185,"area":7,"programme":7,"websites":7,"summary":7,"pdf_text":7,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"countries":186,"tags":187,"pdf":188,"authors":189},[21],[181],{"url":24,"caption":25},[],[28],[15],[31],[45],[58,59,60,61,62],[64],[66],{"id":191,"name":192,"position":7,"image":193},311,"Tom Walugembe","88567ba7-08b5-453a-a77f-e7dc7c6e0c86",[195,246,302,339,367,403,437,475,518,558],{"id":196,"slug":197,"title":198,"status":6,"nid":199,"year":200,"body":201,"external":19,"topic":7,"language":7,"type":202,"date_published":203,"image":204,"citation":205,"publisher":17,"link_internal":206,"link_external":209,"authors":213,"countries":218,"tags":227,"pdf":236,"topics":238,"featured":19,"languages":240,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":48,"date_created":241,"user_updated":242,"date_updated":243,"main_points":244,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":245},2443,"cs-14","Case Study 14: Madagascar: a landmark conviction for money laundering linked to environmental crime",2948,2026,"This Case Study demonstrates how international cooperation and the follow-the-money approach revealed a transnational criminal network trafficking endangered species and led to Madagascar’s first money laundering conviction related to wildlife trafficking.\n\n### About this Case Study\n\nThis publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series, [ISSN 2813-3900](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fcase-studies). It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License ([CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F)).\n\nPhoto: [Studio Sifaka](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.studiosifaka.org\u002Farticles\u002Factualites\u002Fitem\u002F8084-plus-de-mille-tortues-et-pres-d-une-cinquantaine-de-lemuriens-vivants-saisis-en-thailande.html) \u002F khaosodenglish (used with permission).\n\nThe Case Study series offers practitioners insights into interesting and precedent-setting cases involving corruption and asset recovery. This case relates to the Basel Institute's [Green Corruption programme](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fgreen-corruption).\n\nThe development of this publication was funded through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund.\n\nThe contents are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Basel Institute on Governance, its donors and partners, or the University of Basel.\n",[31],"2026-03-31","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fea8361c6-bffd-4cfd-9119-7bc822b39af7?width=600&height=840","Rakotondramanana, Joseph. 2026. “Madagascar: a landmark conviction for money laundering linked to environmental crime.” Case Study 14, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fcs-14",[207],{"url":24,"caption":208},"View all Case Studies",[210],{"url":211,"caption":212},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.baselgovernance.org\u002Fcourse\u002Fview.php?id=369","View online on Basel LEARN",[214],{"authors_id":215},{"id":216,"name":217},567,"Joseph Rakotondramanana",[219,223],{"countries_id":220},{"id":221,"name":222},139,"Madagascar",{"countries_id":224},{"id":225,"name":226},213,"Thailand",[228,232,234],{"tags_id":229},{"id":230,"name":231},1303,"Environment",{"tags_id":233},{"id":88,"name":89},{"tags_id":235},{"id":120,"name":121},[237],2497,[239],"Green Corruption",[15],"2026-06-01T22:10:26.000Z","b0662e2a-864d-4888-a1b7-4342b7570b30","2026-06-02T21:14:32.000Z","- In 2024, Thai authorities carried out the country's largest ever single wildlife seizure, intercepting 48 lemurs and more than 1,000 tortoises endemic to Madagascar.\n- The seizure triggered a joint Thai-Malagasy investigation that traced smuggling routes through Indonesia, uncovered a transnational criminal network and led to arrests in both countries, the freezing of bank accounts and the confiscation of vehicles and vessels.\n- In 2025, the Anti-Corruption Court in Antananarivo convicted 10 individuals for trafficking in protected species, money laundering and criminal conspiracy. Sentences of up to 10 years in prison were handed down, alongside approximately USD 8.7 million in customs penalties and damages. This is the first time Madagascar has applied the offence of money laundering to a wildlife trafficking case.\n- Training on financial investigations by the Basel Institute on Governance, together with the facilitation of information exchange and peer learning among enforcement practitioners, contributed to this landmark result. The Malagasy authorities are now better equipped to overcome structural challenges in applying a “follow-the-money” approach to organised environmental crime, including limited technical expertise, insufficient resources and the complexity of cross-border financial investigations.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fcs-14",{"id":247,"slug":248,"title":249,"status":6,"nid":250,"year":251,"body":252,"external":19,"topic":253,"language":15,"type":255,"date_published":257,"image":258,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":259,"link_external":266,"authors":267,"countries":272,"tags":281,"pdf":294,"topics":296,"featured":19,"languages":298,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":299,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":300,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":301},2283,"research-case-3","Research Case Study 3: Exposing the networks behind transnational corruption and money laundering schemes",2454,2023,"Corruption is increasingly understood as a form of collective, social behaviour. It slips easily across borders and involves sophisticated financial strategies and transactions to launder the stolen money. \n\nYet the nexus between corruption and money laundering is poorly understood. So too are the structures, functions and mechanisms that enable these crimes.\n\nWe applied analytical tools to reveal the complex networks behind a corruption and money laundering scheme involving Odebrecht and Peru’s former president. The insights can support strategic approaches to fight transnational corruption.",[254],"Public Governance",[256],"Research Case Study","2023-05-31","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fca5d66b9-58f2-42fd-afa6-1d3224f01f9d?width=600&height=840",[260,263],{"url":261,"caption":262},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fworking-paper-36-revealing-networks-behind-corruption-and-money-laundering-schemes"," View related Working Paper",{"url":264,"caption":265},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications?type=Research%20Case%20Study"," View all research case studies",[],[268],{"authors_id":269},{"id":270,"name":271},304,"Jacopo Costa",[273,277],{"countries_id":274},{"id":275,"name":276},171,"Peru",{"countries_id":278},{"id":279,"name":280},29,"Brazil",[282,284,286,290],{"tags_id":283},{"id":88,"name":89},{"tags_id":285},{"id":136,"name":137},{"tags_id":287},{"id":288,"name":289},1373,"Corruption prevention",{"tags_id":291},{"id":292,"name":293},818,"Anti-money laundering",[295],2318,[297],"Corruption Prevention and Public Governance",[15],"2023-05-31T10:04:29.000Z","2026-06-02T14:09:06.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fresearch-case-3",{"id":303,"slug":304,"title":305,"status":6,"nid":306,"year":307,"body":308,"external":19,"topic":309,"language":15,"type":310,"date_published":312,"image":313,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":314,"link_external":318,"authors":319,"countries":324,"tags":325,"pdf":332,"topics":335,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":336,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":337,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":338},2415,"qg41","Quick Guide 41: Managing seized and confiscated assets",2834,2025,"This Quick Guide explains why effective, transparent and fair management of seized and confiscated assets – including assets linked to sanctions violations – is essential to successful asset recovery. It introduces key principles, standards and practical steps based on international good practice. These include legal, institutional and technical arrangements, that help countries manage seized assets in a way that preserves value, ensures accountability and supports justice.\n\nThe Guide is primarily intended for government officials working in law enforcement, justice and asset recovery. It may also be useful to policymakers and development partners seeking a better understanding of how countries can improve their asset management systems.\n\n### About this Quick Guide\n\nYou are free to share and republish this work under a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F\">Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence\u003C\u002Fa>. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications?type=2428\">ISSN 2673-5229\u003C\u002Fa>.",[21],[311],"Quick Guide","2025-07-16","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F8b319ca1-ed7c-4d10-874e-a1583fed7ffc?width=600&height=840",[315],{"url":316,"caption":317},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications?type=Quick%20Guide"," View all Quick Guides",[],[320],{"authors_id":321},{"id":322,"name":323},553,"Rita Simões",[],[326,328],{"tags_id":327},{"id":104,"name":105},{"tags_id":329},{"id":330,"name":331},843,"Asset recovery",[333,334],2469,2470,[28],"2025-08-21T23:52:11.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:55.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fqg41",{"id":340,"slug":341,"title":342,"status":6,"nid":343,"year":307,"body":344,"external":19,"topic":345,"language":15,"type":346,"date_published":347,"image":348,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":349,"link_external":351,"authors":352,"countries":357,"tags":358,"pdf":361,"topics":363,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":364,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":365,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":366},2401,"qg40","Quick Guide 40: Financial investigations in a cash economy",2796,"Despite the increasing use of digital payment methods, cash is still king in many economies – including criminal economies. It remains the most-used payment option across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, and accounted for over USD 7.6 trillion in consumer expenditures throughout 2022.\n\nThat’s a challenge when investigating financial crimes. How can you “follow the money” without records of bank transfers, debit or credit card payments, or digital wallet transactions?\n\nThis Quick Guide explains the specific challenges involved in conducting financial investigations in a cash economy. It outlines how law enforcement can use traditional investigative methods to successfully uncover the financial affairs of a suspect.\n\n### About this Quick Guide\n\nYou are free to share and republish this work under a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F\">Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence\u003C\u002Fa>. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications?type=2428\">ISSN 2673-5229\u003C\u002Fa>.",[21],[311],"2025-04-10","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fc20e0d80-319e-4b14-b187-064f77f9e53a?width=600&height=840",[350],{"url":316,"caption":317},[],[353],{"authors_id":354},{"id":355,"name":356},562,"Emmanuel Mringo",[],[359],{"tags_id":360},{"id":120,"name":121},[362],2442,[28],"2025-04-14T10:05:14.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:52.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fqg40",{"id":368,"slug":369,"title":370,"status":6,"nid":371,"year":372,"body":373,"external":19,"topic":374,"language":15,"type":376,"date_published":377,"image":378,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":379,"link_external":380,"authors":381,"countries":386,"tags":387,"pdf":396,"topics":398,"featured":19,"languages":399,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":400,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":401,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":402},2378,"qg34","Quick Guide 34: Public-private partnerships for financial intelligence sharing",2724,2024,"Financial intelligence is the staple food of investigations into corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes.\n\nMuch financial intelligence is held by private-sector institutions such as banks and other financial service providers. How does that get into the hands of law enforcement, where it can trigger or inform investigations? And how can we improve the system?\n\nThis Quick Guide gives a brief introduction to public-private partnerships or platforms for financial intelligence sharing. It sets out how they work in practice, and how they can improve the sharing of targeted, useful information between law enforcement and financial institutions.\n\n### About this Quick Guide\n\nYou are free to share and republish this work under a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F\">Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence\u003C\u002Fa>. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications?type=2428\">ISSN 2673-5229\u003C\u002Fa>.",[375,21],"Anti-Money Laundering",[311],"2024-11-25","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F01dea28f-22b8-47cd-bf86-ddee24683c2b?width=600&height=840",[],[],[382],{"authors_id":383},{"id":384,"name":385},327,"Simon Marsh",[],[388,390,392],{"tags_id":389},{"id":120,"name":121},{"tags_id":391},{"id":292,"name":293},{"tags_id":393},{"id":394,"name":395},1374,"Law enforcement",[397],2416,[375,28],[15],"2024-12-05T14:06:47.000Z","2026-05-31T22:51:55.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fqg34",{"id":404,"slug":405,"title":406,"status":6,"nid":407,"year":251,"body":408,"external":19,"topic":409,"language":15,"type":410,"date_published":411,"image":412,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":413,"link_external":414,"authors":418,"countries":423,"tags":424,"pdf":429,"topics":432,"featured":19,"languages":433,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":434,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":435,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":436},2276,"quick-guide-29-money-laundering-and-sanctions-evasion-using-art-market","Quick Guide 29: Money laundering and sanctions evasion using the art market",2428,"The art market is often described as ‘niche’. In reality, it is a significant trade industry: sales of art and antiques by dealers and auction houses reached an estimated USD 65.1 billion in 2021. And like many industries of this size, it attracts people seeking to abuse it to launder proceeds of crime or evade sanctions.\n\nThis quick guide briefly explains the unique characteristics of the art market that make it vulnerable to this type of abuse. It also outlines steps that jurisdictions can take to prevent and combat abuse of the sector for illicit purposes.\n\n### About this Quick Guide\n\nThis work is licensed under a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License\u003C\u002Fa>. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications?type=2428\">ISSN 2673-5229\u003C\u002Fa>.",[375,21],[311],"2023-04-12","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F8029c862-8f97-4c17-8c3d-570ea42a1ba4?width=600&height=840",[],[415],{"url":416,"caption":417},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.baselgovernance.org\u002Fcourse\u002Fview.php?id=176"," View on Basel LEARN",[419],{"authors_id":420},{"id":421,"name":422},306,"Andrew Dornbierer",[],[425,427],{"tags_id":426},{"id":88,"name":89},{"tags_id":428},{"id":292,"name":293},[430,431],2312,2313,[375,28],[15],"2023-04-12T10:04:20.000Z","2026-05-31T22:52:11.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fquick-guide-29-money-laundering-and-sanctions-evasion-using-art-market",{"id":407,"slug":438,"title":439,"status":6,"nid":440,"year":307,"body":441,"external":19,"topic":442,"language":15,"type":443,"date_published":444,"image":445,"citation":446,"publisher":17,"link_internal":447,"link_external":449,"authors":450,"countries":455,"tags":460,"pdf":467,"topics":469,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":470,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":471,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":472,"main_points":473,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":474},"cs-12","Case Study 12: Indonesia: a landmark money laundering conviction in a forestry crime case",2874,"This Case Study highlights how investigators of Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry achieved their first conviction for money laundering linked to forestry offences, leveraging institutional and legal changes in financial investigation procedures.\n\n### About this Case Study\n\nThis publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fcase-studies\">ISSN 2813-3900\u003C\u002Fa>. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002F\">CC BY-NC-ND 4.0\u003C\u002Fa>).\n\nThe development of this publication was funded through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund.\n\nThe contents are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Basel Institute on Governance, its donors and partners, or the University of Basel.",[239],[31],"2025-11-25","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fcb6cbdfc-7348-43d5-bfc0-2d3fc41157cd?width=600&height=840","Anindito, Lakso. 2025. “Indonesia: a landmark money laundering conviction in a forestry crime case.” Case Study 12, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fcs-12\">baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fcs-12\u003C\u002Fa>.",[448],{"url":24,"caption":25},[],[451],{"authors_id":452},{"id":453,"name":454},523,"Lakso Anindito",[456],{"countries_id":457},{"id":458,"name":459},99,"Indonesia",[461,463,465],{"tags_id":462},{"id":292,"name":293},{"tags_id":464},{"id":230,"name":231},{"tags_id":466},{"id":120,"name":121},[468],2483,[239],"\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## Case Study 12\n\n## November 2025\n\n## Indonesia: a landmark money laundering conviction in a forestry crime case\n\nHow investigators of Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry achieved their first conviction for money laundering linked to forestry offences, leveraging institutional and legal changes in financial investigation procedures.\n\nLakso Anindito , Team Leader Indonesia, Green Corruption programme, Basel Institute on Governance\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## Key points\n\n- → In a case of illegal logging in Alas Purwo National Park, investigators of Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry 1  obtained their first money laundering conviction.\n- → This achievement was made possible through a 2021 Constitutional Court decision extending the power to pursue  money laundering offences  to  investigators in  charge of predicate offences, in this case timber trafficking.  This  power  was  previously  limited  to investigators of traditional law enforcement agencies, including the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission.\n- → Training  and  technical  assistance  by  the  Green Corruption  programme  of  the  Basel  Institute  on Governance contributed to strengthening law\n\n- enforcement capacities to effectively handle money laundering cases and track illicit financial flows tied to environmental crimes.\n- → Sustained coordination and collaboration among the Ministry, Indonesia's Financial Intelligence Unit and the Attorney General's Office were pivotal in applying the follow-the-money approach to the illegal logging case.\n- → Businessman  Supono  was  convicted  initially  of illegally trading rosewood and later of laundering approximately USD 127,000 he had obtained through log  trading.  In  both  cases,  he  was  sentenced  to prison and ordered to pay a fine.\n- → Although the amount of money laundered in this case and the imposed fines were relatively modest, the case set a precedent for integrating financial crime investigations into environmental enforcement. This paves the way for future, larger-scale prosecutions by investigators of environmental agencies.\n\n## The case\n\n- 1. In 2021, investigators at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry started investigating indications of illegal logging in Alas Purwo National Park in Banyuwangi, East Java. National Park staff had caught a transporter carrying illegally logged rosewood (sonokeling) .\n- 2 . The  investigation  began  with  an  effort  to  identify who  was  benefiting  from  the  illegal  activities.  A businessman named Supono was later identified as the beneficiary. He was the person who orchestrated the transport of the rosewood logs.\n- 3. In 2022, the Banyuwangi District Court convicted Supono of intentionally transporting and owning forest products (logs of 31 rosewood trees sourced from Alas Purwo National Park) without permit. 2 The Court sentenced Supono to two years in prison and a fine of IDR 500 million (approx. USD 29,900). This first case was pursued purely on the basis of forestry crime charges.\n- 4. The Ministry's investigators continued to pursue the case using a follow-the-money approach to trace the proceeds of the crime. They applied this approach in close collaboration with the Financial Intelligent Unit (PPATK), which contributed key information, and in coordination with the Attorney General's Office. The financial investigation revealed:\n- a. Supono carried out suspicious financial transactions with two sawmill companies, PT Aji Sono and PT Amruu. His later statement during the court  proceedings  disclosed  that  the  logs  he was  trading  with  these  two  companies  were sourced not only from Alas Purwo National Park, but also from other locations, including Lampung, Sulawesi and Sumbawa.\n- b. Between 2020 and 2022, Supono gained approximately USD 127,000 from trading logs with PT Aji Sono (IDR 1,454,440,000) and PT Amruu (IDR 670,980,800).\n\n- c. To conceal the origins of the illegal proceeds, the  two  companies  transferred  the  money for their log purchases to the bank account of Supono's son, which was effectively controlled by Supono himself.\n- d. Supono then moved the money from his son's bank  account  to  his  own  account  in  smaller transactions, both via direct transfer and via cash withdrawal and manual deposits.\n- e. Supono integrated the proceeds of crime with money  he  had  loaned  from  the  bank  in  2020 (when he had no specific need for a bank loan). He then used the illicit funds to pay back the loan. He used this 'loan-back' method to disguise the proceeds of crime as legitimate money from the bank and other unrelated business activities.\n- f. Among other things, Supono used the money from the logging business to buy land.\n- 5. In 2024,  the  Banyuwangi  District  Court  issued its decision No. 11\u002FPid.Sus\u002F2024\u002FPN Byw 3  declaring Supono  guilty  of  money  laundering.  The  Court sentenced  Supono  to  one  year  and  three  months in  prison  and  a  fine  of  IDR  50  million  (approx. USD 3,000). The proceeds of the crime as such were not recovered.\n\nThe illegal logging and money laundering scheme uncovered by investigators of Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry.\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n## Legal background\n\n- · In  2010,  Indonesia  enacted  the  new  AntiMoney Laundering Law No. 8\u002F2010. 4 It provides  a legal  framework  for  tracing  and prosecuting illicit financial flows, including those  linked  to  environmental  crimes .  This marked a major step towards integrating  financial investigation tools into law enforcement efforts against  money  laundering.  However,  initially, only investigators of traditional law enforcement authorities  were  authorised  to  use  this  law, including from police, the Attorney General's Office, the Corruption Eradication Commission, the National Narcotics Agency, the tax authority and customs.\n- · A  landmark  decision  came  in  2021  when the  Constitutional  Court  issued  its  Decision\n\nNo. 15\u002FPUU-XIX\u002F2021. 5 This authorised investigators in charge of predicate offences, including from natural resources and environmental  authorities,  to  investigate not only environmental  crimes  such  as timber trafficking but also the related money laundering offences .\n\n- · The  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forestry initiated  several strategic  actions  to  utilise its expanded powers . For example, it reached an  agreement  with  the  Indonesian  Financial Intelligence Unit to develop a joint investigation team. The Ministry also set its investigators the target of handling environmental cases using a  follow-the-money  approach,  and  started collaborating with the Attorney General's Office.\n\n## What can we learn from this case?\n\n## Laws and their interpretation are important….\n\nThe Constitutional Court's 2021 Decision is an important example of how a legal framework can be interpreted to  maximise its effectiveness in practice. In this case, the decision granted investigators from environmental agencies - in addition to investigators from traditional law enforcement agencies - the legal authority to pursue money laundering offences linked to environmental crimes.\n\nIt  empowered investigators to expand their scope and approach, laying the groundwork for more comprehensive enforcement in the future.\n\n## … but using laws in practice requires training and 'learning by doing'\n\nDespite their new powers, the investigators still faced difficulties in tracing illicit financial flows and understanding complex financial transactions linked to environmental crimes. They lacked knowledge and practice in gathering financial intelligence, using investigative technology and cooperating with other agencies domestically or abroad.\n\nOngoing training in financial analysis and intelligence gathering can equip investigators with the necessary skills, tools and networks to tackle money laundering activities, including those linked to environmental crimes.\n\nA  'learning  by  doing'  approach  helps  -  i.e.  applying new skills in realistic case investigations, together with counterparts from other agencies.\n\n## The value of hands-on, inter-agency training\n\nAs part of an Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge  Fund  project, 6   the  Green  Corruption team of  the  Basel  Institute  on  Governance  has trained Indonesian law enforcement agencies to effectively  handle  money  laundering  cases  and track illicit financial flows tied to illegal logging and wildlife-related crimes with the follow-themoney approach.\n\nThe training brought together investigators and prosecutors  from  key  government  agencies, including from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Attorney General's Office and Financial Intelligence Unit. Participants formed inter-agency groups and collaborated on a realistic case scenario, with each person contributing based on their respective role. The training used practical tools and exercises to explain how criminals conceal money and other assets through shell companies, business fronts, real estate investments and tax havens.\n\nBesides training, the Basel Institute also supported the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in developing  guidelines  to  handle  money  laundering cases,  providing  technical  knowledge  on  the investigation process.\n\nIt  was  just  a  few  months  after  the  training  that the Ministry's investigators, in collaboration with the  Attorney  General's  Office  and  the  Financial Intelligence Unit, achieved their first successful convictions for money laundering related to forest crimes.\n\n## Real cases - even when modest - can have a big impact\n\nThis case set a precedent for integrating financial crime investigations into environmental crime cases.\n\nEven  though  the  amount  of  money  laundered  in  this particular case was relatively low - and the fines Supono was sentenced to pay were a small fraction of that amount - the case has opened the door to tackling more complex, high-value cases in the future.\n\nThis first case also played an important role in helping the Ministry of Environment and Forestry's investigators to:\n\n- · shift their perspective from investigating illegal logging crimes only to handling money laundering offences; and\n- · move  from  a  general  understanding  of  money laundering in theory to handling real-life cases in practice.\n\nWhile training and guidelines were necessary to support the process, the real case itself served as a critical opportunity to identify both obstacles and solutions in applying the follow-the-money approach.\n\n## Both leaders and frontline investigators need to take action\n\nEvery natural resource trafficking case has a potential for exploring money laundering due to the amount of money involved in this type of crime.\n\nA  successful  investigation  requires  initiative from investigators and support from decision-makers. In this case of illegal logging in Alas Purwo National Park:\n\n- · The Ministry of Environment and Forestry's Director General and Director of Investigation encouraged investigators to adopt the follow-the-money approach.\n- · At the technical level, investigators put this encouragement  into  action,  demonstrating  their commitment  to  following  the  money  in  existing predicate crime cases.\n\n## Inter-agency collaboration is vital\n\nCoordination between the relevant agencies from the outset of the investigation has been pivotal to concluding the case successfully. The mutual understanding between counterparts from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Attorney General's Office and Financial Intelligence Unit provided a strong foundation for the enforcement process.\n\n## Keywords\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\nIndonesia\n\nEnvironmental crimes\n\nIllegal logging\n\nMoney laundering\n\nFinancial investigation\n\n## About this Case Study\n\nThis publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series, ISSN 2813-3900. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives  4.0  International  Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).\n\nSuggested citation: Anindito, Lakso. 2025. 'Indonesia: a  landmark  money  laundering  conviction  in  a  forestry crime case.' Case Study 12, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002F cs-12.\n\n## Acknowledgment and disclaimer\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\nThe  development  of  this  publication  was funded through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund.\n\nThe contents are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Basel Institute on Governance, its donors and partners, or the University of Basel.\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->\n\n\u003C!-- image -->","2025-11-25T17:05:34.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:56.000Z","- In a case of illegal logging in Alas Purwo National Park, investigators of Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry obtained their first money laundering conviction.\n- This achievement was made possible through a 2021 Constitutional Court decision extending the power to pursue money laundering offences to investigators in charge of predicate offences, in this case timber trafficking. This power was previously limited to investigators of traditional law enforcement agencies, including the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission.\n- Training and technical assistance by the Green Corruption programme of the Basel Institute on Governance contributed to strengthening law enforcement capacities to effectively handle money laundering cases and track illicit financial flows tied to environmental crimes.\n- Sustained coordination and collaboration among the Ministry, Indonesia’s Financial Intelligence Unit and the Attorney General’s Office were pivotal in applying the follow-the-money approach to the illegal logging case.\n- Businessman Supono was convicted initially of illegally trading rosewood and later of laundering approximately USD 127,000 he had obtained through log trading. In both cases, he was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a fine.\n- Although the amount of money laundered in this case and the imposed fines were relatively modest, the case set a precedent for integrating financial crime investigations into environmental enforcement. This paves the way for future, larger-scale prosecutions by investigators of environmental agencies.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fcs-12",{"id":476,"slug":477,"title":478,"status":6,"nid":479,"year":251,"body":480,"external":19,"topic":481,"language":15,"type":482,"date_published":483,"image":484,"citation":14,"publisher":17,"link_internal":485,"link_external":486,"authors":487,"countries":498,"tags":505,"pdf":512,"topics":514,"featured":19,"languages":515,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":516,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":435,"main_points":7,"short_version":7,"subtitle":7,"link":517},2278,"research-case-2","Research case study 2: Leveraging informal networks for anti-corruption in East Africa",2432,"Citizens and business people may invest significant time and money in building informal networks with public officials to overcome public service delivery shortcomings and access business opportunities. Understanding these networks better can strengthen anti-corruption efforts.\n\nThis research case study gives a brief overview of our Public Governance team's research in Uganda and Tanzania. Through interviews, the team explored when, how and why informal networks are built and used to access public services or business opportunities corruptly.\n\nThe research project described was carried out under the Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE), funded with UK aid from the UK government. All results are freely shareable under a Creative Commons licence.",[254],[256],"2023-05-17","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F7d1b37bc-c9a9-458b-9b5c-5e140061e6dd?width=600&height=840",[],[],[488,492,496],{"authors_id":489},{"id":490,"name":491},295,"Claudia Baez Camargo",{"authors_id":493},{"id":494,"name":495},303,"Saba Kassa",{"authors_id":497},{"id":270,"name":271},[499,501],{"countries_id":500},{"id":68,"name":69},{"countries_id":502},{"id":503,"name":504},224,"Tanzania",[506,510],{"tags_id":507},{"id":508,"name":509},848,"Behavioural science",{"tags_id":511},{"id":136,"name":137},[513],2314,[297],[15],"2023-05-17T10:04:49.000Z","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fresearch-case-2",{"id":519,"slug":520,"title":521,"status":6,"nid":522,"year":200,"body":523,"external":19,"topic":7,"language":7,"type":524,"date_published":526,"image":527,"citation":528,"publisher":17,"link_internal":529,"link_external":533,"authors":534,"countries":541,"tags":542,"pdf":549,"topics":551,"featured":19,"languages":553,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":48,"date_created":554,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":555,"main_points":7,"short_version":556,"subtitle":7,"link":557},2438,"how-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations","Tackling the complexity of border corruption: How technological tools such as the project FALCON dashboard can support investigations",2953,"Corruption at land and sea borders facilitates smuggling, sanctions evasion, tax offences and the entry of counterfeit, substandard or unsafe goods into countries including EU member states. This report conceptualises border corruption as a complex system of actors, events and illicit exchanges that is difficult to detect and investigate.\n\nDrawing on research from the Horizon Europe FALCON (Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project, it explores how innovative technological tools – illustrated by the “FALCON dashboard” – can help investigators manage, visualise, interpret and report large volumes of heterogeneous data in support of more effective investigations.\n\n### About this report\n\nYou may share or republish this report under a Creative Commons [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002Fdeed.en) licence.\n\nThis report was written as part of the FALCON project. FALCON is funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Program Grant Agreement ID 101121281. The Basel Institute on Governance, as an associated partner without the right to receive funds directly from the European Research Executive Agency, has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).\n\nThe contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the European Research Executive Agency or SERI.",[525],"Report","2026-04-20","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F83e615dd-a58e-4dec-a3d3-40b0cfe4cd32?width=600&height=840","Costa, Jacopo, and Marco San Biagio. 2026. “Tackling the complexity of border corruption: How technological tools such as the project FALCON dashboard can support investigations”. Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fhow-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations",[530],{"url":531,"caption":532},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fqg38","Read Quick Guide to border corruption",[],[535,537],{"authors_id":536},{"id":270,"name":271},{"authors_id":538},{"id":539,"name":540},585,"Marco San Biagio",[],[543,547],{"tags_id":544},{"id":545,"name":546},859,"Corruption risks",{"tags_id":548},{"id":152,"name":153},[550],2493,[552],"Prevention Research and Innovation",[15],"2026-06-01T22:10:25.000Z","2026-06-02T14:08:57.000Z","Corruption at land and sea borders facilitates smuggling, sanctions evasion, tax offences and\nthe entry of counterfeit, substandard or unsafe goods into countries including EU member\nstates. It is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that poses significant challenges to law\nenforcement. Based on a literature review and empirical research including interviews and\ncase studies, this report conceptualises border corruption as a dynamic system of actors,\nevents and illicit exchanges. It also assesses how new technologies and innovations can\nstrengthen investigations.\n\nBorder areas are spaces that bring together a variety of public and private actors, regulatory\nfunctions and illicit activities. Corruption is structurally embedded, making it difficult to detect\nand investigate. Investigations in this context require the integration and interpretation of large\nvolumes of heterogeneous data spanning administrative records, financial transactions,\ncorporate structures, border crossing data and information from social media.\n\nThis level of complexity can result in information overload, fragmented analysis and limited\ncapacity to extract actionable insights for planning law enforcement operations. Additionally,\nissues with reporting and information sharing can hinder collaboration between field operatives\nand their line managers and superiors, who have critical responsibilities in terms of case\nmanagement and financial planning.\n\nBuilding on research conducted within the Horizon Europe FALCON (Fight Against Largescale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) project, the report presents one of the\nproject’s technological outputs as an example of how technology can be leveraged: the\nFALCON dashboard. Currently in the piloting phase, this innovative tool has been designed to\nsupport investigations into border corruption and related offences by enabling the systematic\ncollection, integration, visualisation and analysis of investigative information and evidence.\nThis report demonstrates how the FALCON dashboard can assist investigators in managing\nhybrid data sources (manual and automated), constructing and navigating evidence graphs,\nand identifying key actors and relational patterns. The tool also lets investigators track the\nevolution of their investigations over time. Particular attention is paid to the dashboard’s\ncapacity to reduce visual saturation, enable multi-level analysis and facilitate targeted queries,\nthereby enhancing sense-making and investigative prioritisation.\n\nAlthough the FALCON dashboard itself is not yet publicly available, its presentation in this\nreport provides inspiration for similar technological innovation. The report argues that tools\nsuch as the FALCON dashboard can bolster investigative capabilities by enhancing analytical\nclarity, operational efficiency and communication between investigators, supervisors,\nprosecutors and other relevant stakeholders. However, it also prompts the need for further  reflection on broader challenges relating to data quality, interoperability, institutional\ncoordination and data protection.\n\nOverall, the study provides a conceptual and practical framework for understanding how\ntechnological platforms can support evidence-based, adaptive responses to border corruption.","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fhow-technology-can-support-border-corruption-investigations",{"id":559,"slug":560,"title":561,"status":6,"nid":562,"year":307,"body":563,"external":19,"topic":564,"language":15,"type":568,"date_published":570,"image":571,"citation":572,"publisher":17,"link_internal":573,"link_external":577,"authors":578,"countries":587,"tags":588,"pdf":602,"topics":605,"featured":19,"languages":7,"summary":7,"programme":7,"area":7,"websites":7,"pdf_text":7,"sort":7,"user_created":47,"date_created":606,"user_updated":48,"date_updated":472,"main_points":7,"short_version":607,"subtitle":7,"link":608},2425,"wp-60","Working Paper 60: Understanding the enemy: Insights from corrupt networks to improve anti-corruption Collective Action initiatives",2867,"Corruption is not simply about individual misconduct. It is a networked phenomenon that arises from entrenched social, economic and political interactions. It is orchestrated through coordination between groups and clusters of individuals.\n\nThis Working Paper explores the networked nature of corruption and the opportunities this presents for anti-corruption efforts. The aim is to understand how shifting the unit of analysis from individuals to networks helps to understand the persistence and resilience of corruption, while opening up new anti-corruption perspectives.\n\nA meta-analysis of findings from more than 15 years of research on informal networks and corruption underpins the conceptualisation of corrupt networks. The paper argues that a focus on networks helps to shed light on the functionality of corruption – from petty bribery to large-scale public procurement fraud – and the underlying social norms that enable it.\n\nUnderstanding the structures, functions and modus operandi of the informal networks associated with corruption and applying the network logic to anti-corruption strategies can help to achieve better outcomes. The paper specifically looks at anti-corruption Collective Action initiatives, suggesting that these should emulate positive aspects of informal networks.\n\n### About this Working Paper\n\nThis paper is published as part of the Basel Institute on Governance Working Paper series, ISSN: 2624-9650. You may share or republish it under a Creative Commons \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-nc-nd\u002F4.0\u002Fdeed.en\">BY-NC-ND 4.0\u003C\u002Fa> International Licence.\n\nThe contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Basel Institute on Governance, its donors and partners, or the University of Basel.\n\n",[565,566,567],"Collective Action","Prevention","Research and Innovation",[569],"Working Paper","2025-11-04","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F3fc6640b-79d3-481c-a74c-fc1979923c1b?width=600&height=840","Baez Camargo, Claudia, and Jacopo Costa. 2025. 'Understanding the enemy: Insights from corrupt networks to improve anticorruption Collective Action initiatives.'Working Paper 60, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fwp-60\">baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fwp-60\u003C\u002Fa>.",[574],{"url":575,"caption":576},"\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications?type=Working%20Paper"," View all Working Papers",[],[579,583],{"authors_id":580},{"id":581,"name":582},572,"Dr Claudia Baez Camargo",{"authors_id":584},{"id":585,"name":586},550,"Dr Jacopo Costa",[],[589,592,596,598],{"tags_id":590},{"id":591,"name":565},909,{"tags_id":593},{"id":594,"name":595},982,"Anti-corruption",{"tags_id":597},{"id":136,"name":137},{"tags_id":599},{"id":600,"name":601},967,"Organised crime",[603,604],2480,2481,[565,552],"2025-11-04T17:05:36.000Z","This Working Paper reflects on the networked nature of corruption and the\nlessons that can be learned from studying it. Particularly, it provides insights into\nthe opportunities and challenges of designing and implementing anti-corruption\nCollective Action initiatives.\n\nThe authors consider corruption not as a series of isolated acts by individuals,\nbut as the outcome of complex, resilient informal networks embedded within\nsocio-political, economic and cultural structures. Within this framework, they\ninvestigate how shifting the unit of analysis from individuals to networks can\nimprove our understanding of the persistence of corruption and create new\nperspectives to promote better anti-corruption outcomes and impacts.\n\nDrawing on over 15 years of empirical research across diverse countries and\nregions, the authors argue that corruption must be viewed through a network\nlens. This approach reveals how informal connections facilitate rule subversion,\nproblem-solving and goal achievement where formal institutions are weak or\nineffective.\n\nThe paper contends that a focus on networks sheds light on the functionality\nof corruption and the underlying social norms enabling corrupt exchanges.\nUnderstanding the structures, functions and modus operandi of the informal\nnetworks associated with corruption can help design better anti-corruption\ninitiatives.\n\nThe Working Paper contributes to the existing literature on corruption strategies\nand anti-corruption activities.\n\n**First**, the authors explore how **informal networks rooted in trust, reciprocity\nand social norms can serve practical functions**, including accessing public\nservices, boosting business profitability and winning elections. The strength\nof informal networks lies in their adaptability, internal organisation and\nembeddedness in local cultures.\n\nThe authors identify **six core roles in informal networks** that pursue corrupt\nobjectives: seekers, doers, brokers, facilitators, intermediaries and instigators.\nThe coordination and division of tasks among these six roles make such informal\nnetworks effective in achieving their goals.\n\nIn addition, the authors unpack **the most important strategies these corrupt\ninformal networks rely on** for their functioning. These strategies are:\n\n- co-optation (recruitment and trust building);\n- control (discipline and compliance);\n- camouflage (concealment and legitimacy); and\n- coordination (task orchestration and adaptability).\n\n**Second**, the authors set out **concrete implications for anti-corruption\nactivities** based on insights on how informal networks operate. They state that\ntraditional top-down, normative approaches often fail due to the functionality\nof corruption (i.e., corruption is always a means to an end) and the social\nembeddedness of corrupt networks.\n\nThe authors propose to apply the network logic to anti-corruption strategies. This\npaper particularly focuses on **Collective Action initiatives** and suggests that\nthese should emulate positive aspects of informal networks. Collective Action\nrefers to collaborative efforts – typically involving businesses, civil society and\u002For\npublic institutions – to tackle corruption risks and shared integrity challenges that\nno single actor can resolve alone.\n\nThis means that, to be effective, these Collective Action initiatives must be\nbased on:\n\n- **Functional goals:** Set short-term, tangible goals aligned with participants’ interests.\n- **Strategic co-optation:** Recruit key stakeholders strategically, including those who are prone to corruption risks, by using trust-building mechanisms that can supply an added value to the stakeholders.\n- **Transparency and accountability:** Leverage mechanisms of peer pressure and reputation management that can ensure sustained commitment and engagement among participants and deter free-riding strategies.\n\nIn conclusion, to foster integrity in today’s fragmented and conflict-prone world,\nanti-corruption initiatives generally must shift from targeting individuals to\ntargeting the networks that sustain corruption. Sustainable change requires\nlocally rooted, trust-based collective efforts that provide functional, credible and\ncoordinated alternatives to illicit networks.\n\nIn this sense, Collective Action initiatives built on conceptualising corruption\nas a networked problem can be an effective solution for achieving\nanti-corruption goals","\u002Fresources\u002Fpublications\u002Fwp-60",1780676580874]