The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (GPO) mandated the Basel Institute on Governance’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) to assist with tracing and recovering assets stolen by former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his inner circle. The agreement was signed on Monday, 11 August 2014, in Kyiv by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Mr Vitaliy Yarema, and Basel Institute Managing Director Ms Gretta Fenner.
The Basel Institute has created a new information platform focusing on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in recovering stolen assets.
Initially developed in the context of the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery, the interactive guide is applicable to all CSOs interested in playing a more active role in asset recovery, through advocacy, awareness raising, investigations and in the return of assets.
From 30 June to 4 July 2014, the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the United Nations Office on Drugs (UNODC) and the International Center of Asset Recovery (ICAR) conducted a joint Workshop for Prosecutors and Investigators on Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The workshop programme was designed to raise awareness of proceeds of crime and money laundering. Some 24 participants from a number of government agencies of Malawi attended the training workshop.
The International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) joined the Peruvian General Attorney Office and the Swiss Embassy in Peru for a workshop on “Seeking Effective Legal Mechanisms against Corruption and other Financial Crimes” held in Lima, Peru, on 23-24 March 2015.
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Seminar for the judiciary of Tanzania on the recovery of proceeds from wildlife and forest crime
From 21 to 24 April 2015, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the International Center of Asset Recovery (ICAR) co-jointly conducted a four-day seminar for the Tanzanian judiciary on recovering the proceeds from wildlife and forest crime. The seminar was held on Zanzibar island and attended by some 40 Tanzanian judges.
Within the context of the recently launched three-year initiative on "Mapping and Visualising Cross-Border Crime” funded by the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Program, experts from the International Centre for Asset recovery (ICAR) conducted its first training workshop in Bucharest during 21-23 April 2015.
In the context of the Basel Institute's partnership arrangement with the Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR), together with ARINSA and the Government of Botswana conducted a joint anti-money laundering (AML) workshop for prosecutors and investigators from 12-15 April 2015 in Gaborone, Botswana.
In the context of the International Centre for Asset Recovery’s (ICAR) ongoing partnership with the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA) and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to strengthen the capacities of partner countries to conduct investigations, trace and recover stolen assets emanating from money laundering and similar offences, ICAR, together with ARINSA and the Government of Swaziland conducted a further joint workshop for prosecutors and investigators on proceeds of crime and money laundering.
After conducting two very successful and similar workshops in financial investigation and asset recovery in Bhutan during 2014, the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) was invited to conduct a third such training workshop in Bhutan.
From 23 to 27 February 2015, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of South Africa (ARINSA), the Government of Uganda and the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) carried out a joint workshop for prosecutors, investigators and other relevant stakeholders on the recovery of proceeds of crime from wildlife and forest offences and money laundering in Entebbe, Uganda.