Transparency, integrity necessary in recovering proceeds of crimes - Dame to Cambridge International Crime Summit

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has called on top global actors in the fight against cross-border economic and financial crimes to step up cooperation efforts in order to root out the growing global phenomenon.

Speaking at the event, which draws leading figures on fighting economic crime from around the world, Dame called on top global actors in the fight against cross-border economic and financial crimes to step up cooperation in order to root out the growing global phenomenon.

With global trends pointing to the fact that organised financial and economic crimes are on the increase, Godfred Dame noted that the end game of prosecution of crime is to identify and trace the assets of criminals obtained from illicit activity.

He stated that the survival of the global community is dependent on how effectively it can foster collaboration between its justice partners to combat the menace and how the sources of income of criminals can be disrupted.

Godfred Yeboah Dame made these remarks in his keynote address at the 41st Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at the Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK), on Monday, 2 September 2024, under the theme; "Suspect Assets."

The Attorney General observed that "whilst tracing of assets is largely international and multi-jurisdictional, we must bear in mind the peculiarities of asset tracing and fighting economic crime generally within the context of specific continents and regions."

On the African experience with regional integration, Dame said, "presents further complexities for the effort to curb illicit transfer of funds and concealment of assets.

"In Africa, the launch of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), whilst presenting Africa with its greatest opportunity to show to the world the strength of its potential and the entrepreneurial spirit of the people, has unleashed a new set of issues of concern to law enforcement authorities.

"These take the form of migratory problems, how to deal with the phenomenon of corruption within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area, money laundering, and environmental challenges. The need to ramp up international cooperation in confronting financial and economic crime can not be overstated," Godfred Dame said.

He added that "Many African countries are signatories to international conventions such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. These agreements must be deployed to facilitate cross-border cooperation in assets recovery.

"Our survival as a global community depends on the efficiency of cooperation among us. The world can develop a proper response to the dangers posed by economic crime only through a coordinated effort based on mutual cooperation between criminal justice partners and the private sector globally.

"As I have said before, criminals exploit differences between countries to further their objectives, enrich their organisations, expand their network, and avoid detection or apprehension. They establish influence in government, politics, and commerce through corrupt and illegitimate means. I therefore consider this summit as key to reinforcing global co-operation, between the countries that have had assets stolen and the countries where those assets are hidden.

"Law enforcement officials on both sides must drive forward to ensure a return of illicit funds to countries from which they originate. There must be free international data sharing to combat cross-border economic crime."

Recovering illicit wealth

Touching on the theme for the Symposium, the Attorney General said when he reflects on the theme of the conference, the importance of the forum as a solid platform for strengthening global cooperation among top actors in the campaign against economic crime in countries rich and poor, developed and underdeveloped, investor and recipient of foreign direct investment, comes to the fore.

"The motivation for financial and economic crime, often, is the acquisition of illicit wealth and the securing of undue advantage. Thus, effectively tracing assets of suspects and recovering the proceeds of crime nips the motive for such crimes in the bud.

"Asset tracing is, therefore, the end game, in my view, in dealing with economic and financial crime. Apart from being simply unconscionable for perpetrators of economic crime to conceal or keep the fruits of their crimes, for the relatively less developed world such as Ghana, the phenomenon breeds mistrust in the system and denies the nation much-needed revenue for the execution of lofty development projects," Godfred Dame remarked.

He further stated that "Thus, the quest to recover the assets of criminals obtained from criminal enterprise places law enforcement agencies squarely in the position to contribute to the national purse since a success in that regard makes them a major generator of revenue."

Abusing plea-bargaining

Plea-bargaining as a means to combating financial and economic crime, according to the Attorney General, is a welcome development. However, Mr Dame warned that where prosecutors are "motivated by the sole objective of recovering supposed proceeds of crime in a situation where the accused persons plainly refuse to admit responsibility for the commission of those crimes, is an unwanted paradox inimical to the rationale for the existence of criminal laws."

"The prosecutors will face a real risk of sacrificing their reputation and creating a false impression of having compromised their professional integrity and duty to prove the commission of an offence on the altar of making money for the State, or providing a shield from prosecution to accused persons. A delicate balance, therefore, ought to be struck.

"In my respectful view, therefore, plea bargaining should as much as possible be entered into on the basis of a clear acknowledgment of responsibility for the commission of crime, especially financial and economic crimes which directly affect the use of the national purse," the AG stated.

"It is only when the commission of an economic crime may be impossible to prove or the necessity for a trial of same is outweighed by more compelling considerations that a plea agreement or a DPA, which is not founded on an admission of liability, may be entered into," he added.

Domestic mechanisms

On domestic efforts of Ghana to deal with economic and financial crimes as well as to recover suspect assets, the Attorney General indicated that some three legislations; The Economic and Organised Crimes Office Act, 2011 (Act 804), The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) and the new Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), are in force and the same is helping to trace and recover the assets of criminals while boosting transparency.

"Three mechanisms stipulated in sections 24, 25, and 29 of the EOCO Act position Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crimes Office as a key institution for the recovery of the proceeds of crime in Ghana. These are the search and seizure powers of EOCO, the power to track properties, as well as the mandate to investigate tax fraud and prosecute the same on the authority of the Attorney-General. The property tracking mandate of EOCO, undoubtedly useful for the identification and discovery of illicit property, requires cooperation with other institutions of state and other foreign or international agencies.

"Five mechanisms stipulated in the OSP Act fully equip the OSP in the performance of a core function to recover the proceeds of crime. These are the search and seizure powers of the Office, the power to confiscate property pursuant to a court order, the power to apply to the court to compel the payment of a pecuniary penalty in respect of properties that cannot be the subject of an order for confiscation, the power to apply to the Court to lift the veil to unravel the identities of persons and entities holding illicitly acquired property on behalf of others and the power to trace properties.

"By virtue of a variety of measures introduced by Ghana’s Companies Act to ensure the prompt verification of information provided by companies to the Registrar of Companies, provisions directing access to information contained in the register and the introduction of the declaration of beneficial owners, the Office of the Registrar of Companies has become a reliable partner of the government in its effort to root out corruption.

"The duty to provide particulars of beneficial owners and the verification processes provide a strong guard against money laundering and corruption generally, and ultimately, boosts investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy. The phenomenon of the creation of shell companies and opaque financial systems that provide an opportunity for the laundering and concealment of illicit wealth is being drastically reduced by the enactment of the Companies Act in 2019," Dame added.

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