Mobile money and financial crime
The amount of money flowing through mobile payment systems such as M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money has exploded, in part due to covid-19 lockdowns. Should we be worried about the use of mob…
Open-source intelligence
Anti-corruption, transparency and freedom of information initiatives over the last decades have significantly boosted the value of open-source intelligence for both the private and public sectors. In…
Gold laundering
Mark Pieth, Professor Emeritus of the University of Basel and President of the Board of the Basel Institute on Governance, offers an insight into the topic behind his latest book, Gold Laundering.
Following the money
“Follow the money!” Everyone’s talking about it, especially in relation to corruption, fraud and organised crime. But What does “following money” actually mean in this context? How do we do it in pra…
Fundamental skills in tracing assets
This quick guide sets out some fundamental investigative skills that will help investigators trace even the most cleverly hidden assets.
Financial crime in illegal wildlife trade
Every day, an unknown number of elephant tusks, rhino horn, pangolin scales and other wildlife products – alive and dead – cross the oceans in container ships and cargo flights for use in traditional…
The role of business in tackling illegal wildlife trade
Given the vast dimensions of the multibillion-dollar illegal wildlife trade (IWT), it may be surprising that until recently, global efforts to tackle IWT came mainly from the conservation sector. Thi…
The drivers and facilitators of wildlife trafficking
High-profile law enforcement operations against illegal wildlife trade (IWT), such as Interpol’s Operation Thunderball in July and the arrest of notorious trafficker Moazu Kromah in Uganda in June 20…
Social norms and corruption
This quick guide by Claudia Baez Camargo, Head of Governance Research, draws on Ms Baez Camargo's decades of research on social norms and their implications for anti-corruption practice. She explores…
International cooperation in asset recovery
What exactly does international cooperation mean in the context of asset recovery? This is a wider question than many people think. It also opens up further questions, such as not only how to return …
eLearning for asset tracing and financial analysis
Someone once said that the more knowledge is freely shared, the more it grows. Our free eLearning courses on asset tracing, intelligence gathering and financial analysis exemplify this idea. Peter Hu…
The role of FIUs in asset recovery
Practically every country has a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and it plays a vital role in combating money laundering and other financial crimes. Yet there is often confusion – even among anti-co…
Illicit enrichment
Andrew Dornbierer, Asset Recovery Specialist, explains what "illicit enrichment" or “unexplained wealth” mean – and how they can open the door to recovering stolen assets. He covers: What is illicit …
Effective training on financial investigations
This quick guide explains ICAR’s unique training approach – and how it helps investigators, prosecutors, members of the judiciary and Financial Intelligence Units in partner countries gain investigat…
Social network analysis in combating organised crime and trafficking
Jacopo Costa, Senior Research Fellow, explains how social network analysis (SNA) can help us to better understand and tackle the transnational organised crime and dark networks that sustain corruptio…
Integrity and anti-corruption compliance for SMEs
Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance and Collective Action, explains that anti-corruption compliance doesn’t have to be complicated. Even small and mid-sized companies can easily build the basics of an e…
Intelligence
Manuel Medina, specialised Intelligence Analyst for our Illegal Wildlife Trade programme, sets out the basics of intelligence analysis and why we do it.
Cryptocurrencies and money laundering
Senior Financial Investigation Specialist Federico Paesano's quick guide to cryptocurrencies and money laundering explores the growing use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to facilitate money laun…