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YouTubeInternational workshop discusses investigation of seized assets in Brazil
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Brasilia, May 15, 2015 - On May 13 th and 14 th, it was held in Brasilia the Workshop on Asset Investigation, Administration and Disposal of Seized and Forfeited/Unclaimed Assets. The workshop is one of the activities of the BIDAL Project, the Spanish acronym for Bienes Incautados e Decomisados en América Latina (Seized and Forfeited Assets in Latin America), initiated in August 2014 in Brazil.
The objective of the project is to develop and improve systems of identification and location of assets with illicit origins in the country, as well as management of seized and forfeited assets, through the establishment of good governance and administrative transparency standards that enable to: i) deprive criminals of illegally acquired assets; ii) obtain the maximum benefit of such assets, according to constitutional principle of social function of properties; and iii) avoid corruption and diversion actions in use and disposal of such assets.
The BIDAL is implemented in Brazil by a strategic partnership between the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (CICAD /OAS), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and The Department of Assets Recovery and International Legal Cooperation of the National Secretariat of Justice (DRCI / SNJ).
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Rafael Franzini, Representante UNODC |
For Rafael Franzini, the Representative of the UNODC Liaison and Partnership Office, it is essential that Brazil work to improve their processes of return of forfeited assets. "For us, it is very important to work on this project and be able to share these first results with you, the people who will put these efforts into practice to achieve our goals", said Franzini.
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Beto Vasconcelos,
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The National Secretary of Justice, Beto Vasconcelos, also emphasized the importance and urgency that Brazil has in dealing with this issue. "It's still a challenge for this country to manage assets derived from crime and we have to improve the mechanisms of disposal and preservation of seized assets to be properly replenished to public coffers." Vasconcelos adds: "the partnership with the UNODC and the OAS is essential for this process to happen."
With presentations performed by international and national experts, the workshop was attended by several functionaries of the main bodies in Brazil working with the seizure and forfeiture of assets of illicit origin and their management. The first presentation was about the results of a diagnosis of the current situation in Brazil, regarding investigation and management of seized assets.
During the two days, issues were also discussed such as: procedures and experience in the disposal of forfeited assets and recovery of assets, experience and difficulties in asset management in Brazil, the multidisciplinary teams and the sources of information for asset investigation, international cooperation, and others.
Further Information
BIDAL is an OAS project that provides technical assistance to countries through the establishment of good governance and transparency standards in the management of assets of illicit origins, seeking maximum benefit and avoiding diversions. The consultancy will be conducted in Brazil for 24 months.
The agreement with OAS was drafted under a project for international technical cooperation between the UNODC Liaison and Partnership Office in Brazil and SNJ, which aims to strengthen SNJ's capacity for international judicial cooperation, extradition and combatting money laundering.
It is also part of the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering (Enccla), which in the last four years has been devoted to studying the possibility of creating a specific fund to receive assets recovered from money laundering and corruption actions.
We thank our UN Online Volunteer, Yiyang Song, for her contribution to the translation of this article. Yiyang Song, is an online volunteer mobilized through www.onlinevolunteering.org.