Launch of the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Database
Access to the StAR Database
The Anti-Corruption Sub-Directorate, in partnership with the StAR Initiative, are launching a Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Database on the 19 January 2009. This database will allow the international law enforcement community and other government officials to better co-ordinate their efforts in investigating and prosecuting individuals involved in the pilfering of public resources.
Asset theft is a problem of the first magnitude. Although precise numbers are difficult to come by, estimates of the proceeds of corruption stolen from developing countries range from $20 billion to around $40 billion a year. Corruption, asset theft and flows of stolen money also undermine development by degrading public institutions, tainting and destabilizing financial systems and undermining countries' investment climate.
A centralized reference point
This new database situates INTERPOL at the heart of asset recovery and the fight against international corruption. With more than 70 countries on board so far, this initiative will allow police bodies, and select members of the World Bank, to access information for each participating country.
The database is set up so that you can quickly find data on:
Contact details for initial enquiries
The key offices involved in foreign stolen asset recovery
The different types of requests required to initiate assistance
The types of assistance available
What evidence is needed to open criminal investigations or initiate civil action regarding stolen or embezzled assets
The type of information needed to assist in identifying, tracing, or seizing stolen assets.
Whether countries have the authority to enforce foreign forfeiture judgments
The StAR database will be available to authorized users via the I-24/7 network.
Calling all NCBs!
It is crucial that information in this database is kept relevant and accurate. We encourage participating NCBs to regularly monitor and update their country's information.
If your country is not yet represented, we urge you to submit your data as soon as possible.
To update your details, or include your country in this initiative, please click here.
Global Project to Assist in Asset Recovery
On 17 September 2007, the WB and the United Nations launched the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative to help reduce the barriers to asset recovery and thereby facilitate the return of stolen assets. In announcing the initiative, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, and Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, emphasized that the return of looted assets to their rightful owners will require effective international cooperation.
The StAR Initiative seeks to support this cooperation by helping countries:
access and share knowledge and experience on asset recovery;
build national capacity to undertake asset recovery;
implement innovations in asset recovery, such as non-conviction based methods for the confiscation of the proceeds of corruption;
support and facilitate countries' efforts to share information and collaborate with foreign jurisdictions, for example, by filing out mutual legal assistance requests;
An important objective to the success of the StAR initiative is to build global networks from both developed and developing countries to work collectively to recover stolen assets. The existence of these networks is expected to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of asset recovery cases. The networks will also send a message to corrupt officials that stolen assets will be traced, seized, confiscated and returned to victim countries.
