New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The ED has restituted assets worth nearly $5.6 billion, including in corruption cases, with a significant portion achieved in just the past couple of years, the federal agency’s director, Rahul Navin, said on Monday.
Delivering the welcome address at the 12th Steering Committee Meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network), the ED director said under the modern anti-corruption framework enshrined in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), asset recovery is not an afterthought but the truest measure of enforcement success.
The ED director also acknowledged the practical value of GlobE tools to Indian investigators, specifically citing the assistance provided by Spain in a case in which information shared through the Network led directly to the restraint of assets through formal channels, said a statement.
He noted that the utility of the Directory of Open Source Registries lies in accelerating the early stages of investigations.
India’s track record in asset recovery places it among the most active jurisdictions globally in returning stolen assets to the state and to victims, the statement said, adding that the country’s hosting of the 12th GlobE Steering Committee Meeting reflects its growing stature in the international anti-corruption order.
The three-day meeting, being held from March 23 to 25, brings together the 15 member nations of the Steering Committee to deliberate on the Network’s strategic direction, operational priorities, and evolving frameworks for international cooperation.
The 15 nations currently serving on the GlobE Steering Committee are: Azerbaijan, Brazil, China (including Hong Kong and Macau SARs), Ethiopia, Grenada, India, Italy, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.
The GlobE Network is a global platform of specialised anti-corruption law enforcement authorities, established under the Riyadh Initiative during Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency, the statement said.
Operating under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the Network enables direct, practitioner-level cooperation among member agencies for the investigation, prosecution, and recovery of the proceeds of corruption, it said.
Today, the Network comprises 135 member countries and 250 member authorities, along with 18 observers, including EUROPOL, the World Bank, and the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, it said.
The GlobE Network complements formal legal assistance mechanisms by enabling faster, more flexible, and direct agency-to-agency engagement.
The opening session of the Steering Committee meeting here was also attended by the the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Director, Special Directors, and senior representatives of the GlobE Secretariat under the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the statement said.
–IANS
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