Asset Recovery and Illicit Financial Flows
Through its Office in Brussels, UNICRI assists States in addressing Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) as well as asset recovery. This work is carried out with the valuable support of the European Union, and in recognition of the importance of providing specialised case-by-case mentoring for States that have been victims of stolen assets which are the product of corruption and organised crime.
UNICRI’s experts have over 25 years of experience in assisting countries in their effort to trace, freeze, seize and confiscate illicitly obtained assets – including financial assets (bank accounts and virtual currencies), real estate, aircraft, gold and diamonds, as well as stolen cultural assets.
Read more: Repatriation of Libyan Cultural Artifacts and From Manhattan to Tripoli: The Odyssey of the Looted Lady and the Bearded Man.
Tripoli, March 2022
Overall, illicitly-acquired assets valued at approximately USD 54 billion have been located by UNICRI’s experts, who have also assisted in creating the legal and operational frameworks for dedicated Asset Recovery Offices (including the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, as well as in recovering assets and in facilitating the establishment of relevant laws and regulatory frameworks to streamline the asset tracking and recovery processes.
Additionally, UNICRI’s technical expertise is at the forefront in assisting States to develop transparent mechanisms for the management and distribution of liquidated assets. Modern asset recovery practices increasingly urge States to prioritize the distribution of recovered and liquidated assets toward high-priority development needs, including those within the health and education sectors of many countries.
Extract from the report “Illicit Financial Flows and Asset Recovery in the Eastern Partnership Region: a Mapping of Needs and Recommendations”, page 40
Inhibiting IFFs and using recovered assets to, for example, buy much-needed school books or to pay teachers, nurses and doctors, or to bolster youth employment demonstrates the power and value of asset recovery. In many cases, if States were successful in recovering only 10% of estimated illicit financial flows, this would cover the cost of school meal programmes for children for multiple years, or to build new clinics, hospitals and schools.
Additionally, such recovered assets would, in nearly every country, easily fund programmes aimed at supporting victims of corruption and organised crime (as well as programmes that help vulnerable groups – such as women and adolescents – in reducing their vulnerability to human trafficking, migrant smuggling or radicalisation).
UNICRI’s asset recovery work also focuses on assisting countries in adopting non-conviction-based forfeiture and other accelerated mechanisms for the confiscation of illicitly acquired assets; such mechanisms may reduce the time taken to reach a decision regarding asset confiscation from a period of years (as is seen in typical criminal cases) to a period of several months. This boosts public confidence in the efficiency of the justice system, particularly in asset recovery, and offers greater opportunity to demonstrate that recovered assets are being directed to address high-priority development needs, thereby showcasing how the justice system benefits citizens.
Extract from the report “Good Practices in Accelerating the Capture of Illicitly-Acquired Assets”, page 20
This work furthers UNICRI’s overall objectives of advancing global understanding of crime-related problems; fostering just and efficient criminal justice systems; supporting respect for international instruments and other standards; and facilitating international law enforcement cooperation and judicial assistance; as well as supporting the European Union’s efforts in these important thematic areas. UNICRI’s expertise in this field also directly promotes the adoption by States of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, by promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
UNICRI’s Office in Brussels currently works, through EU-funded projects, with national institutions in, for example, the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) region, in Libya (in a project co-implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - UNODC) and in the EU Southern Neighbourhood (in a project co-implemented by Transparency International). Joining efforts with national officials, the projects aim to enhance transparency, fight corruption and organised crime and bolster asset recovery.
Publications of the Asset Recovery and Illicit Financial Flows Programme:
Good Practices in Accelerating the Capture of Illicitly-Acquired Assets
Our reports in:
Understanding Modern and Effective Asset Recovery Practices
Contact us:
UN House, Boulevard du Régent 37-40, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
