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
Structure
NCA
MPS
Organised Crime Command
(SCO7)
International Corruption Intelligence Cell
(ICIC)
Proceeds of Corruption Unit
(POCU)
FUNDING
Department for International Development
(DfID)
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.
Article 49 UNCAC
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
PHASE 3
Joint Investigation
MLA submitted
Restraint
Police-to-Police enquiries
MLA material received
Criminal conviction
MLA Preparation
Confiscation
Civil recovery
SAR referrals:
• A total of 97 Suspicious Activity reports (SARs) were referred to the POCU
between July 2013 and July 2014.
Consent SAR Action
Consent Advised
Refusal Advised
GBP (approx.)
£30million
£400,000
USD (approx.)
$301million
$587million
EUR (approx.)
€ 173,000
-
"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.