ID: ARW-341
Egypt and Liechtenstein asset return 2020-2021 case
In the context of the reconciliation request submitted by the aforementioned to the Illicit Graft Device. - The Illicit Gain Authority has started investigating all the reports submitted to it regarding the inflation of wealth or the realization of illegal gain as a result of exploiting the job capacity or smuggling property from abroad obtained from corruption crimes, and methods of investigation, investigation and financial analysis were used in those cases to determine the elements of those funds, determining their source and means of smuggling and linking them and criminal activity committed within the country.
The Illicit Gain Authority issued orders preventing the disposal of funds and their custody of all the accused, their spouses and their minor children in the crimes of illicit gain that were found through investigations to include the smuggling of assets, assets and funds abroad. It should be noted that the order to seize the funds is a temporary and comprehensive order for all funds and property, whatever their form, and its scope extends inside and outside the Arab Republic of Egypt and includes all funds whether it is known or unknown.
On the basis of the issued reservation orders, requests for judicial assistance were sent to a number of countries regarding investigation, freezing, confiscation and return of all personal assets and balances of the accused, as well as the balances of their wives and minor children, whether they were cash, liquid or movable funds, trust funds, shares or bonds owned by them, by their children, their real estate funds, as well as their balances. Companies owned by them and preventing them from disposing of them by selling, transferring, renting, or arranging any personal or in-kind rights over them, and the number of defendants regarding whom MLA requests were sent was 123 persons, and this number includes the accused, their spouses and members of their families.
The law firm (Stevenson Harwood) representing the Egyptian government was entrusted through the Illicit Profit Authority at the Ministry of Justice in April of 2011. The activity of this office includes seven countries as follows: United Kingdom, Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Cyprus, France, Principality of Liechtenstein. The matter of dealing and follow-up was then transferred to the National Committee for Asset Recovery after its establishment.
Specific factors that helped reach positive results in the field of recovering funds and facilitating judicial assistance procedures, several bilateral meetings and workshops were held with stakeholders and experts specialized in this subject in foreign countries or international organizations that have matter in this field.
Where a number of meetings were held with the experts of the STAR Initiative after they were invited by the Egyptian Minister of Justice, an initiative to recover looted assets, and this initiative is a partnership between the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as they support international efforts to combat safe havens for funds obtained from corruption offences.
This cooperation resulted in providing technical assistance in revising and developing the form of legal aid requests that are sent to foreign countries until they are accepted by the competent judicial authorities, as well as holding workshops in partnership with some European experts to clarify how to recover funds from European countries and the requirements that must be met The workshops were organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Justice.
Assets returned
The return of the 4M USD from Liechtenstein was through a settlement agreement.