A five-day Global Interpol Seminar on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crimes and Asset Recovery, with support from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) will hold next week Monday at the EFCC Academy, Karu, Abuja.
The international capacity building programme for anti-corruption operatives is expected to draw about 50 participants from nine Central Africa countries and 16 West African countries, 13 of which are French-speaking while six are English-speaking.
Four speak Portuguese and Arabic, one country each represents Spanish and Sango according to the EFCC.
Thirteen topics are expected to be covered by a panel of experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL and the EFCC, during the weeklong programme.
The topics include: Anti-Corruption Legislations, Policies and Practices in Africa Countries; Abuse of Official Position/Public Office to Gain Illegally: A common Denominator in Corruption (Challenges in successful investigation and prosecution of such cases); Public officials in possession of assets disproportionate to known source of income: A common Denominator in Corruption (Challenges in successful investigation and prosecution).
Other topics to be discussed, according to the anti-graft agency, include: Role of Intelligence and Open Source Information in Detecting and Unearthing Corruption; Roles of Independent Public Institutions Acting as Auditor and Controller of Public Resources in Unearthing Grand Corruption; Scope of Corruption in Contracting and Procurement; Recovery the Proceed of Crime: Key legal and Practical Issues and Challenges; Detection, Investigation and Prosecution of Corruption in Exploitation of Natural Resources, with Specific Reference to Oil and Gas Industry; Fraud, Embezzlement and Financial Crimes; Corruption and the Exploitation of Marine Resources in African Countries and Computer Forensic and Mobile Forensics; Role of Interpol-Star in International Asset Recovery; Recovery and Repatriation of Forfeited Assets, Case Studies and Digital Forensic-Computer and Mobile.
Formal Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and its requirements will be covered on Friday, October 11th.It would be recalled that the last Interpol Seminar, which was in collaboration with Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption at Nagi, Fiji Island, held between 8th and 11th July 2013.
