Corruption Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Database

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.

On September 17, 2007, the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations launched the Stolen Assest 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.

INTERPOL, as the world’s only international law enforcement organization, joined the Star Group in order to bring its expertise through technical and administrative support.

INTERPOL's Anti-Corruption Sub-Directorate, in partnership with the StAR Initiative, will launch a Focal Point database on 19 January 2009. This database strengthens the co-ordination of law enforcement bodies in their role of effectively investigating and prosecuting individuals and organizations involved in the illegal looting of public resources. With the overwhelming response and involvement of national members, INTERPOL's participation in the StAR initiative makes it a key player in the fight against international corruption.

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 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 that work collectively to recover stolen assets. Currently, there is no worldwide list of focal points that designate national officials who can be contacted in case of emergency, such as when law enforcement agencies suspect that a corrupt official has transferred funds to a particular jurisdiction, and where the failure to act immediately may lead them to lose the trail.  In order to help resolve this problem, StAR has worked with INTERPOL to establish a 24-hour, seven-day a week StAR Focal Point Contact List of officials in countries who can respond to emergency requests for assistance.

This database will allow the international law enforcement community to better co-ordinate their efforts in investigating and prosecuting individuals involved in the theft of public funds. The network will also send a message to corrupt officials that stolen assets will be traced, seized, confiscated and returned to victim countries.

INTERPOL's work on this new database is part of their ongoing fight against corruption and their commitment to helping countries recover stolen assets. The network already includes more than 70 countries and allows law enforcement agencies to access information for each participating country. This data covers:

• contact details for initial enquiries
• key offices involved in foreign stolen asset recovery 
• different types of requests required to initiate assistance 
• types of assistance available 
• evidence needed to open criminal investigations or initiate civil action regarding stolen or embezzled assets 
• whether countries have the authority to enforce foreign forfeiture judgments

The StAR database will be available to authorized users via the secured I-24/7 INTERPOL network.