What can the Commission do to retrieve stolen public money stashed away in international banks by convicted corrupt officials?
Sierra Leone as signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). A fundamental principle of the Convention is asset recovery. Several provisions of the Convention specify how cooperation and assistance are to be rendered. In particular, in the case of embezzlement of public funds, the confiscated property is to be returned to the State requesting it; in the case of proceeds of any other offence covered by the Convention, the property is to be returned providing proof of ownership or recognition of the damage caused to a requesting State; in all other cases, priority consideration is to be given to the return of confiscated property to the requesting State, to the return of such property to the prior legitimate owners or to compensation of the victims. Effective provisions on asset recovery contained in the Convention are to support the efforts of States to redress the worst effects of corruption while, at the same time, sending a message to corrupt officials that there
