Sri Lanka gains international support to recover corrupt assets abroad

Senior officials from the StAR Initiative, a joint program of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have offered technical and expert assistance to help Sri Lanka recover assets located abroad that are suspected to have been acquired through criminal activities.

A special meeting on this matter was held yesterday afternoon (December 2) at the Ministry of Justice and National Integration. The discussion was chaired by Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney at Law Harshana Nanayakkara.

During the meeting, arrangements were made to obtain the necessary technical support to begin actions under the Proceeds of Crime Recovery Act. This is aimed at repatriating foreign assets believed to have been obtained through corruption.

The StAR Initiative confirmed its readiness to assist key Sri Lankan authorities in this process, including the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Ministry of Justice and National Integration, the Proceeds of Crime Investigation Division (PCID) of the Sri Lanka Police, the Attorney General’s Department, the Sri Lanka Police Department, and the Financial Intelligence Unit.

The discussion also focused on forming a task force to formally implement the asset recovery process. The StAR Initiative had previously supported the creation of Sri Lanka’s Anti-Corruption Act, the Proceeds of Crime Recovery Act, and the Assets and Liabilities Act.

Established under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the StAR Initiative helps countries recover assets obtained through corruption by providing international technical and expert support.

The meeting was attended by Laura Pop, Senior Financial Specialist of the StAR Initiative; Ayesha Jinasena, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration and President’s Counsel; High Court Judge Ranga Dissanayake, Director General of CIABOC; Till Johannes Hartmann, Governance Specialist of the World Bank in Sri Lanka; Dmytro Kotlyar, Adviser to the StAR Initiative; Karen Greenaway, Specialist of the StAR Initiative; and senior officials from the Ministry of Justice and National Integration.