Proceeds of Corruption Unit

UK Anti-Corruption Asset Recovery Task Force (Arab Spring)

DCI Jonathan Benton

Proceeds of Corruption Unit – who we are:

• Created January 2007

• Funded by DfID

• Investigate PEPs

• UK Anti-Corruption Task Force – September 2012

• 23 personnel – MPS and NCA investigators

MPS

Organised Crime Command (SCO7)

Proceeds of Corruption Unit (POCU)

NCA

International Corruption Intelligence Cell (ICIC)

Department for International Development (DfID)

FUNDING

Structure

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)

A PEP is defined as an individual who is or has, at any time in the

preceding year, been entrusted with a prominent public function

by a state other than the United Kingdom, a community institution

or an international body. PEP status also applies to the individuals

family and “close associates” as defined by the 3rd EU Money

Laundering Directive.

Challenges faced

• Deep legal pockets

• Complex law: we’ve made case law 7 times in the past 6yrs

• Malicious allegations in the media

• Home Affairs Select Committee was, we say, misused

Indicators:

• Large cash transactions

• Atypical or uneconomical fund transfer to/from foreign jurisdictions

• Unusual business activity or transaction

• Large and/or rapid movement of funds

• Unrealistic wealth compared to client profile

• Defensive stance to questioning

Facilitators:

• Solicitors

• Accountants

• Bankers

• Financial Advisors

• Company Formation Agents

Regulated Sector:

• Credit Institutions

• Financial Institutions

• Solicitors

• Estate Agents

• Casinos

• High Value Dealers

Nigeria GDP $510bn (2013 est.)

24th in the world (40th in 2005, 52nd in 2000)

1996 it was importing 70% of its oil.Population below the poverty line

33.1% (2013 est.)

Leaked memo from Lamido Sanusi, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to

President Goodluck Jonathan - $50bn oil revenue unaccounted for…

…Sanusi suspended

Bringing corrupt PEPs to trial – the current challenges:

• Legal challenges – highly litigious area of law enforcement

• Nexus between alleged corrupt acts and wealth

• Piercing the corporate veil

• International co-operation and working relationships

• High powered individuals with extensive resources

Bringing corrupt PEPs to trial – the current challenges:

• Reporting is increasing from some parts of the regulated sector, but could improve. Example: significant financial transaction, 3 London based law firms involved – only 1 reported the transaction.

• The lengths corrupt PEPs will go to in order to hide beneficial ownership: accounts, private jets through to high-value properties

• Transliteration and language differences – 36 ways to spell Mohamed.

• Corporate Service Providers; off-shore jurisdictions and challenges of gathering evidence across them.

• Length of time in office: Hosni Mubarak, late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. We are conducting financial enquiries going back well beyond the retention of banking material

•New financial centres including Dubai.

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3

Joint Investigation

Police-to-Police enquiries

MLA Preparation

MLA submitted

MLA material received

Restraint

Criminal conviction

Confiscation

Civil recovery

Article 49 UNCAC

SAR referrals:

• A total of 97 Suspicious Activity reports (SARs) were referred to the POCU between July 2013 and July 2014.

Consent SAR Action GBP (approx.) USD (approx.) EUR (approx.)Consent Advised £30million $301million € 173,000Refusal Advised £400,000 $587million -

"Prevention is better than cure"

‘Only very recently have some of the prominent anti-corruption actors admitted – and even then often behind closed doors – that generalised programmes of (socio-economic,

institutional and political) reforms have not provided solutions to what are inherently complex, place-specific and inherently political problems. One of the more promising

avenues of research that looks to make good on the deficits analysed here involves the notion of ‘quality governance’. For some, governance remains a buzz word with little substance to it, but recent developments in understanding not just what the concept

means but also ‘how good’ (or bad) a state’s governance regime happens to be may well be useful in developing more fruitful approaches to tackling corruption.’ Professor Dan

Hough, Corruption, Anti-Corruption and Governance, 2013

Governance will ultimately reduce poverty, our work is significant, but the ripple effect will not solve the corruption problem.