Asset recovery in corruption cases

What is it about?

Asset recovery proceedings increasingly target corrupt foreign officials who acquire lavish assets as a result of capital gained through criminal acts. One extremely difficult issue arising in asset recovery proceedings is whether the capital used to acquire the assets can be traced to a criminal act. The purpose of this paper is to critique US tracing procedure through comparative analysis.

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Why is it important?

This paper is important because it sheds light on the flawed U.S. tracing procedure when dealing with corrupt foreign officials. A prominent series of cases brought by the U.S. and France France against assets owned by Teodoro “Teodorín” Nguema Obiang, second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, produced mixed results on the tracing element. The U.S. results reflect serious weaknesses in the U.S. law as compared to more effective French asset recovery procedure.