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Is this a turning point for asset recovery success in Europe?
Those of us dedicated to fighting financial crime were excited to see the Council of Europe’s recent adoption of an Additional Protocol to the Warsaw Convention, an international treaty on the prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing. The Protocol, together with the Warsaw Convention, arguably represents one of the most advanced treaty frameworks on asset recovery. It elevates practices developed in more advanced jurisdictions into binding commitments and raises the baseline for all participating states. It also requires states to rethink their approach to anti-money laundering and asset recovery in several important respects. Among others, it: - places greater emphasis on financial investigations; - strengthens the institutional architecture supporting asset recovery; - obliges states to significantly improve their ability to cooperate in cross-border cases. To achieve these objectives, it introduces a range of operational measures designed to facilitate the tracing, freezing, management and recovery of criminal assets. These include dedicated asset recovery bodies, centralised account registries and enhanced mechanisms for information sharing and international cooperation. This short explainer highlights some of the points that we, at the Basel Institute, find most important and potentially impactful based on two decades of experience of our International Centre for Asset Recovery supporting jurisdictions around the world on anti-money laundering and asset recovery. Why the new Protocol? The 2005 Warsaw Convention – formally the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure, and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism – establishes a comprehensive framework for anti-money laundering and asset recovery. It requires its 39 States Parties to implement anti-money laundering measures, including customer due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting and Financial Intelligence Units. It also requires them to cooperate internationally to identify, trace, freeze, seize, confiscate and return criminal assets. The need to modernise the Convention and respond to evolving forms of illicit finance, digital assets and the increasingly rapid movement of assets across borders drove the adoption of the new Protocol. The Protocol seeks to ensure consistency with emerging international and regional standards, including the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations. It also seeks to make advanced asset recovery mechanisms developed within the European Union framework available across the wider Council of Europe space, which includes 46 European states. Connecting financial intelligence with asset recovery and management The Protocol's main innovation lies in the integration of Financial Intelligence Units, Asset Recovery Offices and Asset Management Offices into a coherent institutional architecture. The integration is designed to support rapid intervention, effective asset tracing and management, and cross-border cooperation. By doing so, it strengthens the role of non-law enforcement actors in tracing, safeguarding and preserving the value of assets. First, under the Protocol, States Parties are required to establish Asset Recovery Offices with powers to trace assets, cooperate directly with foreign counterparts and take immediate action to preserve assets, including crypto, in cross-border cases. Second, States Parties are also required to establish Asset Management Offices responsible for managing frozen and confiscated property and for cooperating with domestic and foreign authorities. Third, the Protocol also strengthens the operational role of Financial Intelligence Units in asset recovery by requiring states to grant them powers to temporarily suspend transactions, accounts and business relationships. Many jurisdictions already permit the temporary suspension of suspicious transactions. However, FATF standards do not require Financial Intelligence Units to have such authority. In practice, these reforms recognise that anti-money laundering and asset recovery are closely interconnected. Early intervention significantly increases the chances of successful asset recovery at both domestic and cross-border level. They also emphasise that asset value must be preserved from freezing to disposal. Achieving this requires empowering specialised authorities responsible for financial intelligence, asset tracing and asset management. Streamlining access to asset and ownership data The Protocol requires the establishment of centralised account registries capable of identifying bank accounts, payment accounts, securities accounts, safe deposit boxes and crypto accounts, along with their beneficial owners and any persons authorised to act on behalf of account holders. Financial Intelligence Units, Asset Recovery Offices and other competent authorities are explicitly granted access to these mechanisms. This creates a dedicated infrastructure for locating assets within a jurisdiction. It also allows the exchange of such information between authorities in cross-border cases. While centralised bank account registries already exist in many jurisdictions, they are far from universal. Moreover, where such systems do exist, they have traditionally focused on bank account information and often do not extend to other forms of financial holdings, such as securities accounts, safe-deposit boxes or crypto accounts. In practice, this addresses a major operational bottleneck. Identifying accounts usually requires multiple requests to banks and other institutions, which increases the length of financial investigations. Centralised registries significantly improve operational efficiency by accelerating asset tracing and reducing the risk of asset dissipation before authorities can act – an approach now being extended to volatile asset classes such as cryptocurrencies. Maximising the value of financial investigations The Protocol establishes a comprehensive framework to prioritise and enhance asset tracing and financial investigations. The Protocol requires competent authorities to be able to conduct financial investigations without delay, independently or alongside criminal investigations at all stages of proceedings. This includes after a confiscation order has been issued. Such investigations are intended to be flexible in scope and may be used to identify the scale of criminal networks, trace and secure assets subject to confiscation, or gather evidence for criminal or asset recovery proceedings. This emphasis on early and adaptable financial investigation underscores the Protocol’s objective of embedding asset tracing and recovery as a routine component of enforcement processes, while preserving discretion for competent authorities in how these tools are applied in practice. Asset management gets the attention it deserves The Protocol encourage states to shift away from perceptions that asset management is a secondary administrative task and instead view it as a necessary, value-preserving core function of asset recovery systems. It obligates States Parties to establish a detailed asset management framework, that includes: - the possibility of selling seized assets before confiscation where property is perishable, rapidly depreciating or requires specialised management that is not readily available, thereby preserving value pending the outcome of proceedings; and - measures facilitating the reuse of seized and confiscated assets. Experience shows that preserving the value of seized assets requires more than legal powers. It also depends on having clear procedures, dedicated resources and expertise. This is particularly true for complex or newer forms of assets, such as cryptocurrencies. The practical side of asset management is an especially important consideration for many of the Basel Institute’s partner jurisdictions, where asset management has often not been prioritised until now. Lessons from the field show that strong asset management depends on the combination of legal frameworks and the capacity to putting them into practice, including specialized institutions for asset management. Practical ways to enhance international cooperation The Protocol introduces several measures designed to strengthen international cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units, Asset Recovery Offices and Asset Management Offices , as well as judicial authorities. On the latter, key measures we highlight as particularly valuable include: First, mandatory standard forms for the transmission and execution of freezing and confiscation requests. Although model templates already exist in a number of international and regional frameworks, their use is often optional. The Protocol seeks to promote greater consistency in requests, reduce delays caused by incomplete information and facilitate more efficient cooperation between authorities. Second, Joint Investigation Teams established for the purpose of tracing and recovering assets liable to confiscation. Joint Investigation Teams provide a mechanism for authorities to work together in real time, exchanging intelligence and evidence directly without relying on formal mutual legal assistance. While they are already envisaged under instruments such as United Nations Convention Against Corruption, United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and EU law, these frameworks primarily focus on the investigation of criminal offences. By contrast, the Protocol innovatively provides for Joint Investigation Teams dedicated solely to asset recovery objectives. Joint Investigation Teams dedicated to financial investigations already operate in practice, but the Protocol provides a clear legal basis and encourages more systematic reliance on them. The combination of proactive domestic investigations and cross-border teams can be a powerful tool bolster the identification and ultimate freezing of criminal assets on a broader scale. A powerful Protocol that can inspire all States – and is hopefully not a paper tiger The Additional Protocol marks a clear shift in asset recovery towards an intelligence-led and institutionally integrated model of enforcement that also seeks to maximise the value of criminal assets that are seized and recovered by the state. Its practical impact though, will depend less on legislative alignment than on whether states can build the specialised institutions, tools, expertise and cross-border cooperation needed to make early tracing, preservation and recovery operationally effective. Depending on existing capacity, this may require legal reform, technical assistance and targeted training. Without this, the Protocol’s significance risks remaining largely theoretical. In any case, even beyond the Council of Europe space, the Protocol provides a clear blueprint for jurisdictions seeking to strengthen their asset recovery frameworks. Its approach is closely aligned with the principles that guide our work with partner jurisdictions outside Europe. The Protocol will provide an additional tool to support countries in designing reforms that are both ambitious and grounded in their specific legal, institutional and operational realities.
Six new certified trainers will scale financial investigation and asset recovery capacity in Romania
As part of a wider Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme, our International Centre for Asset Recovery ICAR has concluded a successful nine-month train-the-trainer TTT programme in Bucharest. Alongside delivering foundational money laundering and asset recovery training to 125 practitioners in total, the programme has certified six new local trainers. Equipped with ICAR’s unique training methodology, they are now ready to independently train their peers and help strengthen financial investigation and asset recovery capacity across Romania. Building sustainable national capacity The six trainers certified through the programme include one judge, four prosecutors and one representative of the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets ANABI . Fully independently, they will now deliver a further 15 workshops across the country. This effort will effectively bring the total number of practitioners trained to around 500, including judges, prosecutors, specialists, ANABI inspectors and other relevant practitioners. This is a clear example of how train-the-trainer programmes are a proven approach to building sustainable national capacity. On one side, certified local trainers help ensure that knowledge and skills continue to be transferred even after a programme concludes. On the other side, participants benefit far more from learning from peers who understand their specific challenges and possibilities. Two critical legal tools in focus This time, the programme placed particular emphasis on two areas where practitioners can strengthen their response to financial crime: treating money laundering as a standalone offence and launching financial investigations from the earliest stages of a case. 1. The standalone money laundering offence A persistent challenge in money laundering investigations is the assumption that prosecutors must first prove or secure a conviction before pursuing money laundering charges. Under the Council of Europe's Warsaw Convention CETS No. 198, Art. 9 and EU Directive EU 2018/1673 on combating money laundering by criminal law, a conviction for money laundering actually requires neither a prior nor a simultaneous conviction for the predicate offence, nor that the predicate offence be established or identified with precision: prosecutors need only show that the property derives from criminal activity, not which specific crime generated it. As one of the newly certified trainers reflected: I highly valued the new perspective of setting aside the old view of placement, layering and integrating the proceeds of a crime in order to prove money laundering. … It was very useful the approach of covering as many areas as possible impacted by money laundering, like crypto assets, which I did not know almost anything about before, and asset recovery, which is not a topic very much considered in our practice. I was also very impressed how the concept of multi-stakeholder approach in fighting ML was reflected in setting up the groups for the practical exercise. 2. Systematic use of parallel financial investigations Another important approach is the systematic use of parallel financial investigations to identify and trace criminal assets from the outset of a case. This approach is now required under Directive EU 2024/1260 on asset recovery and confiscation, which obliges Member States to launch asset-tracing investigations alongside criminal investigations into high-revenue-generating crime, rather than waiting for a conviction before tracing assets. This shift is already visible in practice. One trainer wrote: I started talking to my colleagues about financial investigations and money laundering. I managed to send to court my first money laundering case, though not standalone, and I also started asking the police to start financial investigations from the beginning of the file. From training to real cases The effect of our training has also reached institutional level. One trainer reported: The management has started disseminating theoretical and practical materials on these topics, organising meetings and training sessions with practitioners and academics, and actively encouraging prosecutors to consider money laundering and asset recovery aspects in their cases. These initiatives have facilitated increased awareness and engagement within the institution. This is exactly the dual impact we seek through the Train-the-Trainer model: a sustainable, independently delivered training capacity, paired with a genuine shift in how practitioners approach financial investigations in their daily work and how their institutions prioritise it. With the first independently delivered workshops planned for September 2026, our ICAR training team looks forward to following the six newly certified trainers and seeing their work generate further impact across Romania. About the programme This TTT was part of the Component 3 of a larger Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme Strengthening the institutional capacity in the area of financial investigations and asset recovery FIARS . This component is implemented by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice PICCJ as component operator, in partnership with the National Institute of Magistracy INM and the Basel Institute on Governance as the Swiss partner.
The powerful role of investigative journalists in tackling crypto-related crime (and what would boost it)
How can investigative journalists help expose crypto-related crime – and educate both the public and policymakers in an increasingly complex financial landscape? That was the knot unravelled in a recent webinar jointly organised by the Basel Institute on Governance and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE , and moderated by Dr Jolly Mtaba of Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. Speakers spanning investigative journalism, law enforcement and public-private cooperation discussed the opportunities and challenges of investigating illicit activity involving virtual assets. They also probed the skills and collaborations needed to turn media investigations into on-the-ground impact on public awareness, policy advancement and law enforcement action. Below are some of the key takeaways from the discussion. Why does investigative journalism matter in the fight against crypto-related crime? According to investigative journalist Geoff White , journalists play two critical roles. One is investigative: uncovering wrongdoing, exposing weaknesses in systems and shining a light on fraud, corruption and money laundering. The other is educational. Many people have heard of cryptocurrency, but far fewer understand how it works, how it can be misused or why it can create opportunities for criminals. Journalists therefore have an important role in helping the public, policymakers and law enforcement agencies understand increasingly complex financial crime risks. As White noted, and has sought to do in his latest book Rinsed and podcast series The Lazarus Heist , there's the explanation piece, and then there's also the investigation and the forcing daylight into this industry. What makes crypto investigations different? The panellists agreed that crypto-related investigative reporting presents unique challenges. Spencer Woodman of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ICIJ gave an example from the ICIJ’s Coin Laundry investigation. He explained that while many aspects of crypto investigations resemble traditional money laundering investigations, aspects such as self-custody wallets and crypto-to-cash services introduce a new level of complexity. Unlike traditional financial accounts, self-custody wallets can be created quickly, anonymously and without the involvement of a financial institution, he explained: One thing that amazed me in this investigation was figuring out how easy it is to make my own self-custody wallet. You can generate these things at the click of a button, and that’s one reason scammers have such an easy time laundering money in crypto. This makes tracing funds significantly more difficult, particularly when cryptocurrency is converted into cash through informal crypto-to-cash desks or courier services operating outside traditional regulatory frameworks. Building on White’s comments about the explanatory function of journalism, an additional challenge is explaining complex blockchain technology to the audience, said Woodman: These scoops and new pieces of information are often about complex financial dealings, and that's already difficult to explain to readers in a succinct way. And then you have this additional challenge of having to explain what cryptocurrency is at a more basic level to a general readership. So the stories are serving a dual purpose – explaining the complex ins and outs of crypto, and then trying to explain the often complicated findings of our investigation. Can investigative journalism lead to real-world action? The answer is a clear yes. Alexandra Gillies of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project OCCRP highlighted several investigations that led to concrete outcomes. After one investigation into the Lithuanian crypto company Bankera, the Lithuanian authorities launched a criminal investigation and conducted more than 30 raids of companies connected to the case. Two banks in Lithuania and Vanuatu faced consequences too. Another OCCRP investigation uncovered links between two UK-registered crypto exchanges and suspected Iranian money laundering networks. Following publication, the companies were removed from the UK corporate register. She explained: At OCCRP we take a proactive approach. First, through outreach to people who can use the information, such as the briefings we gave to law enforcement agencies and policymakers about the findings of our big Scam Empire project. Second by collaborating with civil society organisations such as Transparency International – where the journalists do their reporting, and then the civil society groups push for policy change, or for accountability and legal consequences for those involved in the wrongdoing. This has worked really well on a number of corruption issues. Moderator Dr Jolly Ntaba added an example from Malawi, where a collaborative corruption investigation by journalists sparked a national debate and led to a presidential directive aimed at addressing some of the issues uncovered. How can journalists and law enforcement work together without compromising independence? This was one of the webinar's central themes. Eric van der Schild , Head of Europol's Financial Intelligence Public Private Partnership EFIPPP , emphasised that trust is essential. Journalists and law enforcement agencies have different mandates and operate under different constraints, but both share an interest in exposing criminal activity and improving public safety. He and other panellists stressed that cooperation does not mean sharing unpublished information or compromising journalistic independence. Gillies clarified that OCCRP's engagement with law enforcement takes place after publication and is based on publicly available reporting: The way we share information is by publishing stories. Instead, panellists highlighted the value of dialogue, mutual learning and ensuring that investigative findings reach the institutions best placed to act on them. The old adage remains true, said van der Schild: Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback. What skills do journalists need to investigate crypto-related crime? Several panellists highlighted the growing need for specialist expertise. Tom Walugembe of the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery pointed to a range of skills that can strengthen investigative reporting, including financial analysis, open source intelligence techniques and a better understanding of asset recovery mechanisms. He also emphasised the importance of understanding how law enforcement agencies conduct investigations and cooperate across borders. The need for such skills beyond law enforcement is the main driver of the Basel Institute’s development of a new course on financial investigations and asset recovery directed specifically at civil society organisations and investigative journalists. Woodman argued that journalists do not need to become blockchain specialists overnight. However, they do need a solid understanding of the basics: The best way to operate, in my opinion, as a reporter focusing on crypto, is to build some capacity and understanding of how to use public blockchain explorers. That foundation allows journalists to engage more effectively with technical experts and critically assess the information they receive: There are things in the metadata of those transactions that can really trip you up… relationships with experts are crucial, but it’s never very helpful to go to an expert and say: tell me everything about what I’m looking at here. You need to look at the thing yourself and then say: am I looking at this correctly? Are there enough resources and expertise available? Not yet. Both OCCRP and ICIJ described ongoing efforts to build internal expertise on cryptocurrency and blockchain analysis. One challenge is that many media organisations rely on commercial blockchain analytics providers, which can be expensive and may have potential conflicts of interest due to their relationships with industry clients. As a result, several speakers stressed the importance of building in-house expertise. Gillies noted that investigative journalism increasingly requires multidisciplinary teams capable of combining traditional reporting skills with technical and financial expertise. At the OCCRP, they are keen to strengthen collaboration with academic researchers and data scientists, she said. What challenges do journalists face? Apart from the omnipresent challenges of resources and expertise, the risks associated with investigating crypto-related crime are often the same risks faced by journalists investigating corruption, organised crime and money laundering more broadly. These include legal threats, cyberattacks, political pressure and, in some countries, threats to personal safety. In response to a question from the audience, panellists emphasised the impact of declining press freedom. Restrictions on independent journalism can lead to self-censorship, force journalists into exile and reduce the amount of actionable information that reaches the public domain. Gillies said: There’s a lot of stress and distraction that comes from managing repression. The panellists agreed that protecting press freedom is essential if investigative journalism is to continue playing an effective accountability role. It’s in governments’ interests to “take that issue seriously and put it at the top of the agenda”, including both legal protections and adequate resourcing. What was the overall message? The webinar highlighted that cracking down on crypto-related crime is a complex challenge that is evolving at a dizzying rate and that requires all hands on deck. Investigative journalists, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations, researchers and policymakers each bring different strengths to that effort. And though the technology may be evolving rapidly, the aim remains the same: follow the money, expose wrongdoing, ensure that those responsible are held accountable and strengthen policies to protect people, businesses and states. As the discussion demonstrated, investigative journalism continues to be one of the most powerful tools available for achieving that goal. Learn more ::: links - View the webinar recording on YouTube - Read about the role of international and non-profit organisations in tackling crypto-related crime, drawing on another Basel Institute–OSCE webinar and insights from UNODC, the FIU :::
How tackling green corruption can help us get ahead in the race to net zero
Juhani Grossmann and Amanda Cabrejo le Roux explain the strategic re-focusing of our Green Corruption programme on energy and climate: What is “green” corruption and why does it matter? Green corruption refers to corruption and other financial crimes and governance failures that harm the environment and hinder global efforts to combat climate change. It’s the reason crimes such as illicit deforestation, mining and wildlife trade continue to be multimillion-dollar illegal industries making organised criminals rich at the expense of our planet and the livelihoods of local communities. Green corruption also diverts crucial investments intended for renewable energy and other climate-related projects. Adapting to humanity’s changing energy needs in a just and sustainable manner are challenging enough. We cannot afford to let corruption undermine these generational challenges. What are some key achievements of the programme so far? We are proud that since its launch in 2018, the Green Corruption programme has contributed to significant strides in tackling corruption affecting the environment. Our programme started with an enforcement focus: applying “follow the money” approaches to environmental crimes like illegal wildlife trade and illegal logging. In practice, that means mentoring and training law enforcement officers of national partner agencies to investigate financial transactions that fuel environmental crimes, including between criminal groups and corrupt facilitators. And ideally, to seize and confiscate illicit profits or assets used in the crimes. That’s the only way to get beyond the low-level perpetrators – such as poachers – to the high-level facilitators and organised crime networks. And the only way to take the profit out of the crime, reducing the incentives to engage in it. At the end of 2024, assets worth around CHF 29.6 million were being targeted in 56 cases directly supported by our advisors. We had quite a few “firsts” – like Uganda’s first ever indictment for tax evasion and money laundering against a wildlife trafficking syndicate, Malawi’s first ever corruption cases related to natural resource crimes, Peru’s confiscation of over CHF 3 million in assets related to forestry and gold trafficking, and Indonesia’s first ever conviction on money laundering in relation to an illegal logging case. Behind the headlines lie many more positive steps towards changing mindsets and the priorities of law enforcement agencies to go after the finances of environmental criminals. Our prevention work rapidly grew as we and our partners realised the chronic under-investment in building systems that strengthen resilience to corruption in the environmental sector. Government agencies and state-owned enterprises in countries as diverse as Indonesia, Malawi, Ukraine and Bolivia have now begun to systematically assess and address corruption risks that are affecting their ability to carry out their important functions of protecting the environment and natural resources. Our prevention specialists supported these in applying our bespoke methodology of assessing and prioritising corruption risks and implementing targeted mitigation measures. We developed a customised internal controls maturity assessment tool to reflect the historic lack of investment in this space, which meant that mainstream assessment tools were insufficiently granular at the first stage of maturity to reflect nuances and chart paths to growth. As result of our partnerships, mitigation measures have been institutionalised in many agencies – for example: in Malawi through the creation of Internal Integrity Committees in environmental agencies; in Ukraine through the empowerment of anti-corruption officers to participate in key decision-making processes; in Ecuador by reducing unsupervised discretion in environmental inspections; in Indonesia in the adoption of conflict of interest regulations in the management of timber sales; and in Peru through the automation and digitalisation of numerous permitting and licensing processes related to the wood value chain. Also pleasing to see are the many collaborations and partnerships that have sprung from our work. In Latin America, for example, forestry officials in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are now collaborating on protecting the Amazon rainforest through corruption prevention. Still, targeting and preventing corruption tends to be a lonely effort. So, we have established the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum together with WWF, TRAFFIC and Transparency International as a support network, and it has now grown to over 800 members and four working groups. There are frequent meetings and collaborations between practitioners dedicated to tackling corruption and improving governance, and those specialised in environmental conservation or climate initiatives. It’s a sign there’s much appetite and energy for action against green corruption Why is now the time to focus on the energy transition? Whatever happens in these volatile times, one thing is certain: we’ll continue to see growing demands for energy transition and climate mitigation and adaptation. The urgency of tackling the energy transition, and the rapid increase in investments from both the public and private sectors, leaves the door wide open to criminals and the corrupt seeking to profit at the expense of investors and donors – as well as the planet. A clear example in this space is the growing geopolitical centrality of critical minerals and rare earths. The rapid rise in demand has been accompanied by particularly fragile governance structures, intense political and economic subsidies, and even warfare. Our experience shows that these are all breeding grounds for corruption. We are therefore prioritising efforts to analyse and mitigate corruption risks in this space in Bolivia, Indonesia and Ukraine. Ensuring that the energy transition is safeguarded from corruption is essential for achieving net-zero goals. As outlined in our Working Paper on good governance and the just transition, corrupt practices can jeopardise renewable energy investments and hinder the development of clean energy infrastructure. Rapidly emerging market-based solutions to stimulate responsible behaviour, such as carbon offsets, are also affected by weak governance systems and opportunities for corruption. The fast-evolving and highly technical nature of these activities only increases this risk. Corruption risks similarly threaten the effectiveness of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. If funds are embezzled, used fraudulently or diverted to benefit powerful elites, that’s bad for donors and investors. And it’s bad for local communities, many of which are also directly affected by climate change. On the other hand, there are opportunities. Using corruption risk management tools and enhancing enforcement capabilities can help companies and governments to create thriving, profitable supply chains of critical minerals needed for renewable energy facilities, electric vehicles and the like. What does this shift in priorities mean in practice? Through our Green Corruption programme, we are adapting to this evolving landscape by sharpening our focus on transition minerals and the renewable energy sector. We will continue our dual approach of prevention and enforcement, working closely with long-standing partners in Ukraine, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Some things you might see us doing in the next years: Strengthening transparency and anti-corruption measures in the extraction and trade of lithium, nickel, germanium and other minerals and rare earths essential for the energy transition. Customising financial investigation and asset recovery tools to the specifics of the energy transition. Working with governments, financial institutions and civil society to safeguard energy transition and climate mitigation funds from corruption, fraud and related crimes. We will continue full force our ongoing engagement related to metals gold in particular and the forestry sector, which remain highly strategic. In other areas, such as illegal wildlife trade, fisheries and waste, we will be more discerning, carefully assessing the potential of engagements prior to pursuing them. What impact do we hope to achieve? By applying our expertise to emerging climate and energy challenges, we want to contribute to measurable improvements in the energy transition, environmental conservation, climate change mitigation and equitable economic development. Through these efforts, our Green Corruption programme will continue to play a vital role in ensuring that the green transition is not only sustainable but also just, transparent and a win-win for all: businesses, local communities and society at large – as well as our planet.
Building follow-the-money skills and networks to target environmental crime syndicates
The illegal wildlife trade is operating at an industrial scale. It has a direct impact on the accelerating rate of biodiversity loss and deprives local communities of sustainable livelihoods. A grant from the UK’s IWT Challenge Fund has enabled the Basel Institute’s Green Corruption team to extend its work in a number of countries vulnerable to the illegal wildlife trade. By providing training, mentoring on live cases and fostering communities of practice, we are advancing the use of “follow-the-money” techniques to combat the criminal networks operating in this field. An underused approach The follow-the-money approach involves scrutinising transactions to extract evidence about crimes and criminal networks. It is widely recognised for its value in investigating and prosecuting profit-driven crime as well as confiscating the proceeds and instrumentalities of crime. However it is still underused, particularly in relation to environmental crime. Like other transnational crime networks, environmental crime syndicates exploit legal, transport and financial systems to facilitate crimes and evade detection, moving money and goods in complex networks around the world. But the use of these systems is also the criminals’ Achilles heel – the size and sophistication of their networks create a significant footprint and enable investigators with the right skills to trace their financial flows. Our programme aims to capitalise on this opportunity by strengthening capacity in follow-the money-techniques, encouraging cross-border collaboration and providing opportunities for peer learning. Training investigators to trace funds Building capacity for these techniques in the environmental field is the foundation of this initiative. This is achieved through a combination of intensive training in financial investigations and asset recovery, and in-person mentoring by locally based advisors. This face-to-face, tailored support can help officers to translate new knowledge into practice, especially when resources are limited. We now have local teams working with government agencies in countries directly impacted by the illegal trade in wildlife and related environmental crimes: In Madagascar, where several species of fauna and flora are under extreme threat from the illegal wildlife trade and illegal logging. The seizure of tens of thousands of radiated tortoises from traffickers in 2018 is just one example of the massive and organised scale of these operations. In Peru and Bolivia, where the jaguar population is classified on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List as “near threatened” partly as a result of the illegal trade in this coveted species. In Uganda, which is a transit hub for wildlife products, including ivory and pangolin scales, and a centre of complex financial flows in Africa and beyond. And in Indonesia, where illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing threatens marine ecosystems and affects livelihoods. Strengthening the network A second pillar of the IWT Challenge Fund project is to create a community of experts and advisors on follow-the-money approaches in the environmental sphere. Through virtual roundtables with other IWT Challenge Fund grantees and civil society organisations from around the world, we are collectively working to increase the use of financial investigations and asset recovery in the fight against illegal wildlife trade. As well as the benefits of peer learning and support, building this community will help to generate “surge” capacity to investigate and take down major environmental crime syndicates. Knowledge sharing These efforts align with the establishment of a dedicated Follow-the-Money Working Group in 2022 as part of the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum – an initiative of the Basel Institute, WWF, Transparency International and TRAFFIC. Led by our Green Corruption team, the Working Group has already been instrumental in facilitating knowledge exchange through workshops on various follow-the-money topics, including closed case reviews, recent trends and proactive financial analysis. An additional sub-group made up exclusively of law enforcement professionals allows peer learning among prosecutors and investigators who are receiving mentoring in our priority countries. These meet virtually to share their experiences and challenges. Increasing risk for criminals, and reach for practitioners As long as environmental crime remains a high-profit and low-risk activity, we will never succeed in combating it. Nor will we succeed without networks of skilled practitioners that reach as far as those of the crime syndicates. The twin pillars of this IWT Challenge Fund project – building both technical capacity for financial investigations and a broad follow-the-money practitioner network – are therefore crucial steps in strengthening global efforts to protect our wildlife and biodiversity.
Publications
Case Study 14: Madagascar: a landmark conviction for money laundering linked to environmental crime
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.
About this Case Study
This 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 License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Photo: Studio Sifaka / khaosodenglish (used with permission).
The 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.
The development of this publication was funded through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund.
The 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.
Case Study 12: Indonesia: a landmark money laundering conviction in a forestry crime case
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.
About this Case Study
This 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 License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
The development of this publication was funded through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund.
The 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.
Quick Guide 40: Financial investigations in a cash economy
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.
That’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?
This 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.
About this Quick Guide
You are free to share and republish this work under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, ISSN 2673-5229.
Quick Guide 34: Public-private partnerships for financial intelligence sharing
Financial intelligence is the staple food of investigations into corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes.
Much 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?
This 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.
About this Quick Guide
You are free to share and republish this work under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, ISSN 2673-5229.
Case Study 9: The Kiamba case: achieving a civil asset forfeiture order and criminal prosecution
This case study describes how authorities in Kenya achieved both a civil asset forfeiture order and a criminal conviction against a former public official involved in corrupt procurement deals.
The case involves Jimmy Kiamba, the former Chief Finance Officer of Nairobi County in Kenya, who conspired with three others to defraud the county government by authorising payments for phantom office equipment. Following a financial investigation and civil proceedings under Kenya’s Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (2003), Kiamba was ordered to forfeit around USD 3 million in assets to the state. A subsequent criminal case based on the same underlying facts and investigation ultimately led to his conviction in 2022.
The case demonstrates how a “belt and braces” approach – applying both civil and criminal proceedings – can help anti-corruption agencies to confiscate the proceeds of corruption relatively quickly, even if the criminal case drags on or fails to reach the stricter standard of proof. It also highlights the impact of providing hands-on mentoring to investigators during real ongoing cases and over an extended period of time.
Open-access licence and acknowledgements
This publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Case Study series, ISSN 2813-3900. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence.
The Case Study series offers practitioners insights into interesting and precedent-setting cases involving corruption and asset recovery. Many such cases are drawn from partner countries of the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery.
Suggested citation: Marsh, Simon. 2022. “The Kiamba case: achieving a civil asset forfeiture order and criminal prosecution." Case Study 9, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: baselgovernance.org/case-studies.