This case study describes how authorities in Kenya and Jersey worked together to unlock progress in a long-running case involving around USD 3.7 million in corruptly acquired funds.

The money was held in the bank account of the shelf company Windward Trading, which was used to channel corrupt payments relating to power generation in Kenya.

This case study explains how the Peruvian State used its non-conviction based forfeiture law, extinción de dominio, to recover a Swiss bank account containing illicit kickbacks paid for the purchase of war planes.

This case was the first of a series of cases between Peru and Switzerland involving Peru’s extinción de dominio law, which enables the confiscation of illicit assets in cases where a criminal conviction of an individual is not possible or desirable. It has paved the way for other proceedings, some of which are still pending in the tribunals.

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.

See summary report released in December 2021: Boosting Co-operation in Asset Recovery: Exploring the Potential of Private Sector Engagement and Public-Private Collaboration

How can law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units and private financial institutions such as banks work better together to identify, freeze and confiscate criminal assets?