Why is international cooperation in asset recovery cases based on illicit enrichment/unexplained wealth laws a particularly challenging issue? This is a question we have received from many corners of the world following our publication last year of an open-access book on Illicit Enrichment: A Guide to Laws Targeting Unexplained Wealth.
Environmental criminals and their corrupt facilitators get rich by destroying our planet and its natural resources. This publication for the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project explains how and why to confiscate their illicit assets – with or without a criminal conviction.
Anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors from Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zambia joined experts from our International Centre for Asset Recovery on 16–18 November to share experiences of non-conviction based forfeiture (NCBF) laws in their countries.
This case study examines a 2021 unexplained wealth (illicit enrichment) case in Kenya involving a former Chief Accountant at the Treasury, Patrick Ochieno Abachi.
The case is related to Kenya’s so-called Anglo Leasing scandal, in which 18 high-value government security contracts were allegedly awarded to fictitious companies in the early 2000s. It illustrates one set of circumstances in which civil unexplained wealth (or civil illicit enrichment) legislation can be an extremely useful tool to target assets stolen through corruption.
This annex is a compilation of all the relevant legislative instruments located during the research process behind the book Illicit Enrichment: A Guide to Laws Targeting Unexplained Wealth by Andrew Dornbierer, published by the Basel Institute on Governance in June 2021.
In line with the definitions contained in Part 1 of the main publication, the laws included in this annex have been categorised as either:
Publication
Proving illicit enrichment using financial investigation and Source and Application of Funds analysis
This annex complements the book Illicit Enrichment: A Guide to Laws Targeting Unexplained Wealth by Andrew Dornbierer, published by the Basel Institute on Governance in June 2021.
It provides technical guidance to investigators and prosecutors on how to collect and analyse financial information and evidence to establish that a person has illicitly enriched themselves.
At a Basel Institute-hosted webinar on illicit enrichment on 30 June 2021, practitioners from Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius agreed that illicit enrichment laws have significant potential to help their countries – and others – target corruption and recover stolen assets. But, they say, significant hurdles still need to be overcome, especially in transnational cases.
A new open-access book published by the Basel Institute on Governance explores the rapid growth of illicit enrichment legislation around the world and its use to target corruption and recover illicitly obtained assets.
What does illicit enrichment mean for combating corruption?
An increasing number of countries are introducing mechanisms to target people who enjoy an amount of wealth that can't be explained by their lawful income.
Illicit Enrichment by Andrew Dornbierer provides a comprehensive guide to illicit enrichment laws and their application to target unexplained wealth and recover proceeds of corruption and other crimes. The book covers both criminal and civil-based laws from around the world.
Investigators, prosecutors, legislators and academics alike will benefit from the clear descriptions and practical guidance on different approaches to targeting unexplainable increases in wealth, how to establish cases in court, and common legal challenges to illicit enrichment laws.