Carla Monteiro joined the Basel Institute on Governance and International Centre for Asset Recovery in September 2019. She is a Senior Specialist, Financial Investigations for the Basel Institute's asset recovery and anti-corruption programme of work in Mozambique. 

Carla started her career in criminal investigation in 1997 as an Inspector in the Portuguese Judiciary Police. In 1998, she moved to the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC), the central Portuguese police department responsible for investigating economic and financial crime, where she worked until 2012.

Between 1998 and 2004, her activity focused on criminality associated with counterfeit currency, including playing an active role in the process of adaptation and development of the national police authority to combat counterfeiting of the euro.

Between 2004 and 2012, she worked on the investigation of corruption and related crimes, covering cases concerning both local and central governments, and involving politically exposed persons. In this context, in 2010 she joined a newly established police team dedicated to investigating and combating fraud associated with the national health system, amounting to millions of euros of losses to the Ministry of Health.  

In 2012, she transferred to Portugal’s new Asset Recovery Office (ARO), where she was responsible for asset and financial investigations associated in particular with financial and organised crime cases, with the purpose of confiscation. In 2018, as Chief Inspector, she headed the Lisbon delegation of the Portuguese Asset Recovery Office.

Carla has both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Law from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, with a specialisation in tax law.