Developing countries lose billions each year through bribery, misappropriation of funds, and other corrupt practices. Much of the proceeds of this corruption find 'safe haven' in the world's financial centers. These criminal flows are a drain on social services and economic development programs, contributing to the impoverishment of the world's poorest countries. Many developing countries have already sought to recover stolen assets. A number of successful high-profile cases with creative international cooperation has demonstrated that asset recovery is possible. However, it is highly complex, involving coordination and collaboration with domestic agencies and ministries in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the capacity to trace and secure assets and pursue various legal options—whether criminal confiscation, non-conviction based confiscation, civil actions, or other alternatives. This process can be overwhelming for even the most experienced practitioners. It is exceptionally difficult for those working in the context of failed states, widespread corruption, or limited resources. With this in mind, the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative has developed and updated this Asset Recovery Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners to assist those grappling with the strategic, organizational, investigative, and legal challenges of recovering stolen assets. A practitioner-led project, the Handbook provides common approaches to recovering stolen assets located in foreign jurisdictions, identifies the challenges that practitioners are likely to encounter, and introduces good practices. It includes examples of tools that can be used by practitioners, such as sample intelligence reports, applications for court orders, and mutual legal assistance requests. StAR—the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative—is a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds. StAR works with developing countries and financial centers to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and to facilitate more systematic and timely return of stolen assets.

The fight against dirty money is not a new topic, nor a recent problem. It has existed within international and national agendas since the 1980s. Nonetheless, the evolving complexity of criminal skills and networks; the increasingly global dimension of crime; the financial crisis; and the alleged unsatisfactory results of the efforts hitherto undertaken cause us to re-pose and re-discuss some questions. This book addresses several issues concerning the reasons, objectives and scope of national and supranational strategies targeting criminal money, as well as the concrete modalities to overcome its obstacles. The main objective is to explore where the EU stands and where it ought to go, providing useful input for policy-makers and further research. Nevertheless, the problems are not limited to the EU area, and assets – particularly money – cross EU borders much more easily than people do. The reflections developed in the chapters, therefore, aim at going beyond these EU borders. The book is divided into two parts. The first one focuses on the core of asset recovery policies, namely confiscation or forfeiture laws, and explores in particular some issues concerning the respect of fundamental rights. The second part addresses other problematic aspects related to the asset recovery process, such as the return of assets to victim countries, the cross-border investigations on dirty money, and the social use of confiscated assets.

This book is a first-of-its-kind, practice-based guide of 36 key concepts?legal, operational, and practical--that countries can use to develop non-conviction based (NCB) forfeiture legislation that will be effective in combating the development problem of corruption and recovering stolen assets.

Globalization has given criminals an unlimited number of possibilities especially in offshore areas to hide deprived assets. International experts of FraudNet deliver comprehensive and crucial knowledge about the possibilities of asset tracing and recovery, including: an introduction to the methods of fraud; international available remedies; supranational legal sources; basics of asset tracing and recovery in common law and civil law; respective national laws, regulations and proceedings of over 40 countries -- Back cover.

Development efforts will remain frustrated so long as corrupt leaders continue to steal their countries' wealth and dispose of these ill-gotten gains in foreign jurisdictions. The prevention of such looting, and the recovery of the stolen assets are thus critical development issues and a cornerstone of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (2003) (UNCAC). However, to date experience with asset recovery is limited, and a number of legal and other obstacles continue to impede progress. This is the first comprehensive work on asset recovery, written by renowned practitioners and academics representing different legal systems and countries, all of whom have extensive experience in the asset recovery field. The authors notably discuss the 'success stories' of the past (the recovery of the assets of Sani Abacha, Ferdinand Marcos and Vladimiro Montesinos) and the concrete challenges for the future with regard to search, seizure, confiscation and repatriation of stolen assets. The book also provides perspectives on the role of technical assistance and donors in asset recovery and the likely impact of the UNCAC.