In March 2023, The Project organised a meeting for all the directors of Asset Recovery Agencies from its 34 beneficiary countries. This meeting was held in Mauritius from 14th to 17th March.
The Mauritian minister for Financial Services and Good Governance, Honourable Mahen Seeruttun, officially opened the Asset Recovery Agencies Directors’ meeting and gave the welcoming speech.
Below is an abridged version of his speech at the opening ceremony:
Mauritius is very proud to host this workshop, in tandem with the Eastern, Southern, Central Africa and Yemen (ESCAY) Project Team.
This Project Team, with the support of the European Union, has made significant strides in combatting illicit financial flows generated in the region. It has also helped to strengthen the capacities of countries in the region to curb transnational organised crime.
The predicate crimes generating illicit fund flows are many, varied and uniformly heinous. They feature human trafficking, possibly the most despicable of all crimes, as well as arms trafficking which feeds violence and the looting of non-renewable natural resources.
These crimes are a scourge on victim populations, bringing them misery, exacerbating social and political vulnerabilities. They further deny countries tax revenues, that is so desperately needed, to build and maintain key infrastructure such as housing, healthcare and clean water network.
Illicit enrichment is the key motivating factor of these groups and denying them the financial benefits of their crimes is a profound disincentive for criminality.
In this respect, Collaboration is key! Seamless communication and cooperation, at both national and international levels, between Financial Intelligence Units, Police, Prosecutors and Asset Recovery Agencies is a critical aspect and provides the platform supporting effective counter action.
Today, this workshop bears another testimony to this joint effort, and it also resonates with the words of the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, “change is the only constant in life.”
This is true of the criminal ecosystem, which is constantly evolving and adapting to changing circumstances, be it novel money laundering schemes, new smuggling routes or the use of crypto currencies.
Similarly, law enforcement ecosystems should be alive to change and to the need to adapt and it is possibly fair to say that the extent to which assets can be confiscated is wholly dependent on the legislation underlying asset recovery efforts.
The growth in Africa’s economic and strategic heft is increasingly felt beyond the Indian Ocean, creating new opportunities for our region based on our shared values and outlook.
Our special relationship with mainland Africa has plugged us into a critical network of independent and dynamic developing economies working together to create our own norms for intra-regional growth, critical to the interests of all of us.
In Mauritius, the asset recovery framework covers both the conviction-based and non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.
Mauritius is among the few countries that have taken a novel approach to laws that target Unexplained Wealth. It has introduced the concept of Unexplained Wealth to the canon of the Mauritian Asset confiscation regime.
This workshop provides the ideal opportunity for Agency Heads to exchange ideas, best practices as well as to share and learn others’ experience in applying their legislation.
I thank the AML-CFT ESCAY Project Team, the EU and the Mauritian Integrity Reporting Services Agency (IRSA) for hosting this prestigious workshop in Mauritius.
I hope you enjoy an enriching, rewarding conference and are inspired to greater efforts and success in your profoundly important work.
