Building Capacity on Corruption and Asset Recovery

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has always considered international cooperation as a crucial component of the global strategy to fight financial crime, including corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing. International cooperation is embedded in section 20 (1) (l) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2002 which provides the legal basis for the Commission to develop cooperation with international agencies and partners in the fight against financial crime.

Thus, the ICAC has in recent years developed close working relationships with the UK financial crime law enforcement agencies, including the UK National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Metropolitan Police. As such, in 2020, the ICAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre (IACCC), to formalise and facilitate the exchange of intelligence, amongst others and became an Associate Member of the IACCC.

As an Associate Member of the IACCC, ICAC hosted a training workshop for financial crime law enforcement officers at its Headquarters in Reduit on Building Capacity on Combatting Corruption and Asset Recovery from 25 – 28 October 2021 in collaboration with the IACCC and the UK Home Office with the support of the British High Commission.

  • Dr N. Beekarry, addressing the audience.

Four resource persons from the IACCC and the UK Home Office delivered the training in Mauritius. They were Mr D. Murphy, Deputy Head of the IACCC, Ms. Alison Moore, Lawyer, UK Home Office, Ms Louise McGregor, Sergeant, Australian Federal Police, IACCC and Ms Ipek Abdullah, Lawyer, UK Home Office. The workshop saw the participation of 26 law enforcement officers, including four from law enforcement agencies from Seychelles. Local participants were from the ICAC, Financial Intelligence Unit, Mauritius Revenue Authority, Mauritius Police Force, Integrity Reporting Services Agency and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions while participants from Seychelles were from Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles, Attorney General Office and Financial Crime Investigation Unit, Seychelles Police.

Her Excellency Ms. Charlotte Pierre, British High Commissioner to Mauritius
Mr D. Murphy, Operations Manager, IACCC

The four day workshop allowed the sharing of experiences and views on numerous topical issues such as intelligence and investigations, cooperation, MLA drafting, asset recovery and asset repatriation/forfeiture abroad. Feedback from participants indicates that the training workshop was very insightful.