Recovery of Stolen Assets

Recovery of stolen assets is a term used by law enforcement, international development, and human rights organizations to describe efforts by governments and individuals to identify, recover, and repatriate the proceeds of corruption by politically exposed persons (PEPs). PEPs are typically senior government officials usually hidden in foreign jurisdictions. Such proceeds may include monies in bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, artworks, jewelry, and precious metals. As defined under the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), asset recovery (often used as shorthand for recovery of stolen assets) refers to recovering the proceeds of corruption, as opposed to broader terms such as asset confiscation or asset forfeiture, which refer to recovering the proceeds or instrumentalities of crime in general, but all these terms are often used in the ...