Ten things you should know about stolen assets, asset recovery, and the laundering of the proceeds of corruption:
Corruption—including the theft of state assets by people with political power—is a global epidemic to which no country is immune.
Developing countries lose US$20 to US$40 billion dollars every year (or US$50 million to US$100 million per day) through corrupt acts (such as bribery, embezzlement, and misappropriation of property or funds).
US$100 million would pay for full immunizations for four million children or connect 250,000 houses to water.
The theft of state assets undermines the rule of law and confidence in government officials, agencies, companies, and banks. It hinders social service delivery and discourages private investment.
Much of the stolen money—the “proceeds of corruption”—finds safe haven in international financial centers, where it is invested and laundered.
Countries still face significant challenges when seeking recovery of stolen assets—to date, only US$5 billion has been recovered—and individual cases can take years, even decades, to come to fruition.
While recovery of assets is the ultimate goal—intermittent milestones are as important. When government officials generate evidence of theft and begin legal proceedings; when they request mutual legal assistance from financial centers where money is laundered—they are taking significant steps to eliminate safe havens for corrupt funds.
The 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the first global anti-corruption agreement, has been ratified by 144 countries and the European Union. The return of the proceeds of corruption is a fundamental principle of the Convention, and has received follow-on support from the leaders of the G20 countries.
Making significant progress on the prevention, detection and return of stolen assets will require leadership and cooperation from leading representatives of all stakeholders—government officials in developing countries and financial centers; banks; private companies; donor organizations; civil society and the media.
StAR, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, is the first organization of its kind to act as an honest broker and coalition builder among stakeholders, provider of knowledge and technical assistance to countries, and international political advocate on the issue of stolen assets.
