United Nations

Eight months after the effective start of its activities, the Asset Recovery office “Office Nationale de Recouvrement des Avoirs Criminels (ONRAC) of Senegal is Organizing from 19 to 20 January 2023 at the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Senegal its first public auction of assets seized and confiscated in the context of Criminal proceedings.

 

More than fifty movable assets, consisting of luxury vehicles, furnitures, motorcycles, mobile phones and high-tech equipment were offered for sale. The proceeds of the sale will be deposited in the public treasury.

UNODC, through the financial support of the International Bureau for Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INL) of the United States, has been providing a technical assistance to Senegal over the past two years in the process of setting up the ONRAC and its operationalization. This auction reflects the legislative and procedural progress of the country and is only the beginning of other actions planned for the full functionality of ONRAC. UNODC will also continue its support in terms of capacity building, but also in terms of the drafting of internal texts (strategic plan, asset recovery manual and SOPs …) which will enable ONRAC to carry out the effectively missions entrusted to it.

 

The confiscation of proceeds of crime seeks ultimately to reduce and prevent crime by making known that criminals will not be allowed to enjoy their illicit wealth and crime does not pay.

 

The Minister of Justice of Senegal who attended the opening of the auction expressed his “gratitude to UNODC for the support to the creation and the operationalization of ONRAC which is an important contribution to the policy for modernization of the justice system in Senegal”.