Combatting corruption: legal actions by Civil Society Organisations Sophie Lemaître - Legal advisor Sherpa

Shepa: who are we? French NGO based in Paris composed of lawyers Our mandate: protecting and defending populations affected by economic crimes How? Through advocacy work, strategic litigations, legal trainings of CSOs and research Final objective: leading to effective changes of public policy and legal framework

The « Bien mal acquis » cases The « bien mal acquis » cases (ill-gotten gains cases) initiated by Sherpa against foreign dignitaries from: Africa (Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea), Middle East (Syria), and Central Asia (Uzbekistan) Additional ongoing cases in France: Egypt and Tunisia First cases initiated more than 6 years ago Legal basis: corruption, concealment of misappropriation of public funds and money laundering Criminal procedure possible in France only because assets (properties, cars, bank accounts) are on the French territory

The case of Uzbekistan - Background September 2012: mutual legal assistance request from Swiss authorities February 2013: investigating judge assigned and searches conducted March 2014: request from Sherpa to join the criminal proceedings as a civil party – approved in June 2014 => access to all the investigations and can bring new information to the judge November 2014: investigations still ongoing and discussions with other jurisdictions

The case of Uzbekistan – findings Castle Groussay, classified as "Historic Monument“ sold to Ruby International for a total amount of around 30 million euros A real estate in the 16th arrondissement of Paris and a house in Gassin (Côte d’Azur) for a total amount of around 2,5 million euros purchased through 2 companies - Invest service group and Invest Studio 3 companies created by close relationships of Goulnara Karimova Challenges to make the connection between Goulnara and the properties => funds going through tax heavens which do not cooperate

Assets hold in France Estimated value: 2.5 million euros Estimated value: 1.605.340 € and 672.714 € Estimated value: 672.714 €

Main lessons learned from the cases Identifying key partners (e.g. TI), coordinating actions, being strategic to avoid risks (e.g. using media) Investigations = time consuming, costly and require human resources both for CSOs and law enforcement officers Inertia of the French public prosecutor until 2012 Information from different sources essential (e.g. whistle-blowers, partner organisations, etc.) – must be verifiable and legally obtained Need for transparency of beneficial ownership

Changes occured in France A package of new laws adopted in December 2013 Sherpa involved and interviewed during the revision process Recognition of a right of standing to sue for anti-corruption CSOs Creation of a national financial prosecutor dedicated to financial crimes

Key messages Allocating adequate financial and human resources to investigations Improving and strengthening international cooperation and mutual legal assistance Having recourse to CSOs’ expertise and experiences => case of Sherpa Granting a right of standing to sue for CSOs Overcoming tax heavens to have access to information otherwise blocked Issues of returning assets to citizens: how?

Contact: sophie.lemaitre@asso-sherpa.org Thank you! Contact: sophie.lemaitre@asso-sherpa.org