Where we work

We support civil society in emerging asset recovery cases and through collective collaboration. Nevertheless, we maintain a strategic focus on specific jurisdictions where we have long-standing partnerships or see significant potential for national progress.

Angola

The Luanda Leaks, a large cross-border journalist investigation of 2020, revealed the extent to which the Dos Santos kleptocracy, and in particular the former president’s daughter Isabel Dos Santos, is alleged to have robbed Angola of billions through a business empire. Our work in Angola focusses on a national civil society asset recovery strategy based on coalition building, training and awareness raising and promoting cooperation between civil society groups and policymakers to advance asset recovery.

Brazil

Lavo Jato – or Operation Carwash – was Brazil’s largest ever corruption and asset recovery case. The case was not without controversy however and there have been consistant allegations of political motivation. This politicisation has affected work on asset recovery in Brazil. It not only negatively impacted the progress made in the amount of assets recovered from financial crimes. Since 2022, CiFAR has engaged with key Brazilian civil society groups in developing efforts to improve the perception of asset recovery as a pro-democratic tool among civil society in the country.

Equatorial Guinea

In France, the "Biens mal acquis" (Ill-gotten gains) case was a first of its kind proceedings. Legal action was brought against a current, high ranking official, and which saw the confiscation and seizure of amassed luxury assets from the Equatoguinean vice president. The case began thanks to the efforts of anti-corruption organisations, Transparency International France and Sherpa, who accused Obiang of embezzling state funds to buy luxury assets in France. Our work on Equatorial Guinea has focussed on support for the victims of corruption to participate in decisions around assets due to be returned.

Kenya

Kenya has seen major international corruption cases in recent years. The Goldenberg, Anglo-Leasing and Chickengate scandals became talking points across Kenya. Only some of these have seen substantial progress towards resolution. Outside of these well-known examples, domestic institutions have been increasingly engaged in investigating and prosecuting public officials accused of corruption and have been engaged in recovering funds stolen by them. Since 2018, CiFAR has engaged with civil society in Kenya, promoting transparency in management of recovered assets, the social reuse of assets and engaging with key asset recovery authorities.

Moldova

In 2014, approximately USD 1 billion was stolen overnight from three Moldovan banks. The National Bank of Moldova acted quickly to bail out the three banks by allocating money from national reserves, with the debt eventually transferred to taxpayers. The money is believed to have been laundered through several European countries. Since then, Moldova has made extensive efforts to strengthen its anti-corruption and asset recovery frameworks. CiFAR has been working to support civil society partners in Moldova since 2018, focussing on both asset recovery and anti-corruption sanctions.

Mozambique

The Hidden Debt case is the major asset recovery case in Mozambique and one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. It involves a concealed USD 2 billion loan from the UK branches of the Swiss Bank Credit Suisse and the Russian Bank VTB Capital to partially state-owned companies in Mozambique, which received a state guarantee on the loan. Since 2019, CiFAR has been engaged with Mozambican CSOs towards the advancement of asset recovery in the country.

Venezuela

Accurately determining the amount of public money stolen in Venezuela is challenging, with estimates often ranging from tens of billions to hundreds of billions of dollars. In 2017, the opposition-led National Assembly reported documenting USD 87 billion in misappropriated funds. Much of this money is to yet be recovered. These corruption scandals have long gone unchecked. However, according to Transparencia Venezuela, in recent years, prosecutors, courts, and parliaments in at least 20 countries have begun investigating the embezzlement of Venezuelan money, with assets surpassing USD 24 billion.