N’assembly asked to pass process of crime bill

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has asked the national assembly to pass the proceeds of crime bill.

David Ugolo, executive director of ANEEJ, said this while speaking at the first-ever Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) which held in Washington, US.

Ugolo asked the federal government to provide resources for the new asset recovery and management unit, and also put in place measures to address asset theft.

“On behalf of civil society organisations present at this first-ever Global Forum on Asset Recovery, we are presenting this civil society statement,” Ugolo said.

“We thank the co-hosts the US and UK, and the organisers, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative for inviting us to this forum. We welcome the participation of our governments from Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Nigeria and Ukraine.

“We, civil society organisations from these focal countries, and international CSOs urge all governments to take concrete measures to address the underlying causes of asset theft. The ease with which stolen money can be spirited away into the international financial system must be addressed.

“We urge all countries that are attractive destinations for corrupt wealth to take immediate steps to close down the secrecy loopholes in their jurisdictions and ensure that facilitators of corrupt wealth are prosecuted and sanctioned.

“In particular, we call on the US to adopt public and robustly verified beneficial ownership registers for companies, trusts and property and to introduce and proactively enforce legal requirements to conduct proper customer due diligence. We urge the UK to ensure that beneficial ownership information is readily available from its overseas territories and crown dependencies; that the beneficial ownership property register is swiftly legislated for and that professional enablers who facilitate the laundering of corrupt wealth are prosecuted and sanctioned.”

He said GFAR had been an important way of pushing the asset recovery agenda forward.

“The signing of the MOU between Switzerland and Nigeria to return $321 million stolen by former dictator, Sani Abacha, is a good example of this,” he said.

“We believe that states must take the opportunity of GFAR to make tangible and measurable commitments on improving asset recovery and report within a year on how they have met those commitments,” Ugolo said.

“They must be open about the obstacles they encountered during GFAR on specific cases. And lessons must be learned for future forums.

“Civil society organisations have a key role to play in exposing corruption and identifying evidence that can lead to the tracing and recovery of stolen assets.”