International conventions and treaties can often feel distant, complex and removed from everyday life—important for politicians and lawyers, perhaps, but unrelated to the lives of ordinary people.
However, a recent case in Mongolia highlights how the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is making a tangible impact. Through UNCAC cooperation, Mongolia successfully recovered USD $1.3 million, which is now funding an orphanage and supporting children’s education.
The Enerel Orphanage Center in Erdenet, northern Mongolia, and its 23-hectare orphanage summer camp have been owned by the Erdenet Mining Corporation, the region’s biggest employer, as part of its social responsibility commitments since 1992.
The main city orphanage building is old and requires constant upgrading along with new modern facilities, learning equipment and materials.
That’s where a mysterious apartment in London comes in. A former senior Erdenet manager, Zorigt Ganbaatar, swindled the mining company out of several million dollars through false procurement invoices that he had authorized. He then hid the illegal proceeds in various bolt holes in Mongolia, the United Kingdom and Latvia. Upon discovery of his fraudulent activities, the Mongolia Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) initiated a criminal case in February 2019, which was finalized with restitution orders being enforced in early 2022.
The Erdenet Mining Corporation, with help from the IAAC, could have rightfully returned the recovered proceeds to their consolidated revenue, from which the money had originally been stolen.
Instead, they decided to keep the London apartment as a 100 per cent sustainable, ongoing funding source for the Enerel Orphanage. The apartment generates an estimated monthly rental income of 2,500GBP (USD$ 3300), which goes entirely to the orphanage.
The Head of the Legal Department of the Erdenet Mining Corporation, Mr. Boldbaatar Khukhuu, explained why the Enerel Orphanage matters so much to the company and local community.
“Many of the 300 children who have come to Enerel arrived as orphans when they were four years old. This is their home till they turn 18, some till they are 22 years old,” said Mr Khukhuu.
“Many of the children who graduate get jobs at Erdenet Mining Company and many of the other graduates have made significant impacts on Mongolian society. More importantly, they go on to lead happy lives.”
Ms. M. Maitsesteg, Director of the Enerel Orphanage Centre, said: “The new funding will enable us to professionally upgrade facilities for the children – we will have our first-ever air conditioning units, new furniture and equipment, as well as dedicated play and learning rooms for the girls.
“We will now be able to introduce foreign language training and also boost sports and coaching development on-site. Older children’s interest in after-school training in beauty salon work and computer IT design will also be catered to,” she added.
“Anar”, at right, a 14-year-old child resident for four years, freshly returned from a regional Mongolian Blue Sky Scouting jamboree with some of his fellow senior residents, said that being part of the Enerel community had enabled him to develop his passions.
“I’m now pretty fluent in English and Russian (plus Mongolian of course!), and I’ve been able to keep developing my love for design work – art and graphic work, using i-Pads, computers and good software,” he said in his self-taught, American-accented English.
“Our free time here during the school holidays at our summer camp is great to just play around. We have lots of time for sport, we can grow our own vegetables in the greenhouse and I have ample opportunities to explore and improve my designs.”
While the Enerel Orphanage clearly demonstrates how the proceeds of corruption can impact lives, the back story on Mongolia’s first successful asset recovery case has many benefits as well.
“Successful asset recovery also enables us to publicize new prevention measures that were introduced by Erdenet Mining to address the corruption risks that the corrupt procurement acts exploited. Wee can circumvent such future corruption in relation to procurement from happening again,” Mr. Khukhuu said.
“The outcome is that for our third and fourth quarters, we are now doing corruption risk assessments with all our senior officers,” he said. The IAAC and a number of remote mining companies now meet regularly on-site so that the IAAC can advise on corruption risks and recommend solutions, he added.
Mongolia joined the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network), a community of practitioners who cooperate in corruption cases, in November 2021. This enabled the IAAC to receive advice on asset recovery and financial investigation.
In 2024-2025, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Secretariat to the UNCAC, is running a programme in Mongolia which includes follow-up trainings on asset recovery, requested by the Mongolian Government and the IAAC. This builds on the support previously provided by the UNODC and World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative. Efforts also include working with NGOs and civil society, including the media, on corruption prevention.
*The programme is funded with the generous support of the United States’ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
