FraudNet conference examines asset recovery issues

The difficulty of making a connection between asset recovery and money laundering was one of the topics discussed at the 3rd Seminar for International Fraud, Recovery of Assets and Transnational Cooperation for Insolvency in São Paulo held in Brazil.

The difficulty of making a connection between asset recovery and money laundering was one of the topics discussed at the 3rd Seminar for International Fraud, Recovery of Assets and Transnational Cooperation for Insolvency in São Paulo held in Brazil.

However, delegates were told this has now improved ever since a global strategy to combat laundering has been progressively introduced after 9/11. Although problems remain, there is now a wealth of valuable data and documents that prove crucial to enable successful asset recovery.

Speakers at the meeting explained how asset recovery specialists now use public AML law to help in the pursuit of victims’ rights.

They also highlighted the role of investigative sciences and forensic accounting as part of the process of asset recovery, including the skills and disciplines needed to be able to correctly attribute assets to wrongdoing or to a wrongdoer.

Another discussion looked at how governments and the private sector could collaborate and assist one another in efforts to recover stolen assets, and how both parties could manage the risk of conflict arising from such bids.

The many bilateral and multilateral treaties that currently exist impose obligations on states to assist one another, but can lead to conflict between the state and private citizen. Furthermore, trans-border fraud often aggravates tension between the competing interests in their bid to recover stolen assets.

Another subject addressed by the conference was that of trans-border border bankruptcy. Participants looked at the rights of creditors in cross border insolvency proceedings with regard to UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency and Ad Hoc Cross Border Insolvency Cooperation Regimes, and heard practical examples of both in action.

In one session, Dr Eronides Aparecido Rodrigues dos Santos from São Paulo Public Attorneys Office outlined Brazil’s proposed adoption of UNCITRAL’S Model Law as part of efforts to modernise the Commercial Code of Brazil.

Attendees also explored the alternatives available to allow victim stakeholders and their representatives to gain justice in an arena where multi-jurisdictional asset recovery is expensive and vital information regarding assets is both fragmented and concealed behind multiple layers of foreign and domestic companies or other wealth preservation devices.

The conference concluded with two sessions on fraud around the world and corruption. FraudNet member Babajide Ogundipe from Nigeria outlined the Banco Noroeste case in his country and explained how he and others were able to assist in recovering assets from the fraud.

Delegates also heard of the problems in recovering monies lost to public corruption. The World Bank estimates that the current cost of corruption is $1-2 trillion a year, and around 99.9% of funds lost to corruption are never recovered. It was suggested the time had come for a new approach in tackling the scourge.

Some of the difficulties in addressing the crime include a lack of reliable statistics, the fact that private citizens cannot bring actions on corruption, the lack of public/private cooperation, and the fact that there is still no clear model for assessing damages in corruption cases.

Further deatils of the presentations made at the conference are available here

FraudNet 10th Anniversary Spring Meeting

ICC FraudNet will hold its 10th Anniversary Conference in the British Virgin Islands on the 23rd to 25th of April 2014.
This will mark an important milestone in the development of the world’s leading professional network of fraud and asset recovery lawyers.

Martin Kenney, ICC FraudNet member for the British Virgin Islands (BVI) said the territory is a crucially important jurisdiction for fraud and asset recovery investigations.

“Our commercial court is regularly home to some of the world’s largest and most complex of private civil disputes,” he said.

“Our companies are well-known in the world as vehicles used to help move, on a tax-efficient basis, huge sums of capital across national boundaries. However, it is also known that many of our companies have been abused by fraudsters to commit unlawful acts and hide their proceeds,” he added.

Kenney stressed that BVI’s government, regulators and courts were committed in those cases to provide access to meaningful justice and remedies to the victims of fraud.

FraudNet was established by the ICC Commercial Crime Services Division in 2004 as a network of the world’s leading fraud and asset recovery lawyers. It has 67 members in 60 countries and operates as a 24/7 team-led, rapid reaction force to fraud wherever it is reported around the globe.

You can watch a short video on the upcoming BVI conference by going to this link. http://www.icc-ccs.org/home/conferences