UNODC, US Government and Partners Discuss Effective Mechanisms of Stolen Asset Recovery in Kyrgyzstan

United Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Programme office in the Kyrgyz Republic in partnership with the General Prosecutor’s Office and State Financial Intelligence Service under the Ministry of Finance completed a series of roundtables discussions on recovering stolen assets and returning crime proceeds.

 

Organized as part of the UNODC and the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) initiative “Support to the Kyrgyz Republic in identification, confiscation and recovering the illicitly-acquired assets emanating from corruption activities,” representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the State Financial Intelligence Service under the Ministry of Finance and the competent authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic exchanged views and comments on the legal documents developed with active support of UNODC experts.

The draft Order on the establishment of the Interagency Situation Center (SitCenter) and the attached Regulations of the SitCenter; draft Guidelines on conducting parallel financial investigations (Standard Operating Procedures) and draft Order (Instruction) of the Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic on the procedure for studying the financial aspects of criminal activity in the course of operational-search activities, pre-investigation verification, and preliminary investigation are the legal acts developed with the support of the UNODC.

“These materials are the next and logical step in support of the Kyrgyz Government’s efforts in resolving stolen assets and returning crime proceeds”, said Mr. Andrey Seleznev, Head of the UNODC Programme Office in the Kyrgyz Republic. “The draft legal acts regulate parallel financial investigations and interagency cooperation between law enforcement agencies responsible for detecting and investigating the legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds and predicate offences. They are crucial for the effective fight against corruption in the country”.

On September 30, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic approved the legal acts developed by UNODC experts: the interagency action plan for search, seizure and recovery of stolen assets, conducting financial investigations, and a Concept of introduced amendments to the national legislation.

 

During the roundtable discussions, the representatives of the justice sector emphasised the need for prompt implementation of international requirements in the field of search and seizure of criminal assets, as well as improving the system for identification and suppression of predicate offences aimed at obtaining significant criminal profits. They also discussed the concepts of proposed amendments to the existing legal acts, in particular the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Kyrgyz Republic, regulating the activities of law enforcement agencies. 

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has invested into the UNODC/INL asset recovery initiative in the Kyrgyz Republic 600 000 US Dollars. Aimed at ensuring significant improvement of interagency cooperation between the State Finance Intelligence Service, Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Ministry of Interior in the field of search, identification and recovery of illicit assets emanated from corruption cases, the project will strengthen of these thee state authorities’ capacitates in Stolen Asset Recovery in Kyrgyzstan, parallel financial investigations, analytical and investigation capacities, and prosecutions as well as international cooperation with foreign partners.

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For more information, contact Vasilina Brazhko (Ms.)

Communication and PR Specialist at

UNODC Criminal Justice Programme in Central Asia

UNODC PO in the Kyrgyz Republic

+996775987817 WhatsApp or

vasilina.brazhko [at] un.org