CHAIR’S SUMMARYTwelfth Regional Seminar on Good Governancefor Southeast Asian Countries
Da Nang, Viet Nam
27 – 29 November 2018

GENERAL
1. The Twelfth Regional Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries, cohosted by the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam (SPP) and the United Nations Asiaand Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI),
was held in Da Nang, Viet Nam from 27 to 29 November 2018. Mr. Takeshi Seto, Director ofUNAFEI, served as the Chair of the Seminar. Officials and experts from the following
jurisdictions attended the seminar: Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, theRepublic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union ofMyanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom ofThailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

OPENING CEREMONY
2. Mr. TAKESHI SETO, Director of UNAFEI and Dr. TRAN CONG PHAN, Deputy Procurator
General delivered opening addresses, welcoming the participants, introducing the theme ofThe Latest Regional Trends in Corruption and Effective Countermeasures by Criminal
Justice Authorities and emphasizing the importance of reviewing and recognizing
advancements in anti-corruption practices through the sharing of knowledge, skills andstrategies from the ASEAN region and beyond. Director Seto and Dr. Tran Cong Phan bothaddressed the importance of international cooperation in combating transnational crime andcorruption.
3. MR. SHINICHI ASAZUMA, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan in Viet Nam,
expressed the sincere gratitude of the government of Japan to the SPP and UNAFEI for their
dedicated preparation for the Seminar. He stressed the importance of the rule of law infighting corruption, noting that corruption is a significant factor in hindering social andeconomic development, as well as strengthening relationships between the participatingcountries.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
4. DIRECTOR SETO delivered his keynote, addressing the importance of international cooperation.
In the decade following the adoption of UNCAC, many countries have developed their anticorruption strategies and practices by, for example, establishing special anti-corruption
agencies and courts, implementing prevention measures, and employing special investigation
measures, such as undercover operations, telecommunications interception, and enhancing
witness protection. However, drastic societal changes over the past ten years, including therapid expansion of information and communications technologies and cross-border financial

transactions, have led to a new era of transnational corruption. Simply relying onconventional methods to fight corruption may no longer be sufficient to suppress theincreasingly transnational and complex nature of corruption. In addition to developing new
countermeasures, anti-corruption practitioners must work more closely than ever to overcome
transnational corruption with the aim of ensuring sustainable social and economicdevelopment.

VISITING EXPERTS’ LECTURES
5. DR. CLAIRE ARMELLE LEGER, Anti-Corruption Analyst, Anti-Corruption Division,
Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment, delivered her lecture on the topic of Mutual Legal Assistance in Asia and thePacific: Experiences in 31 Jurisdictions. Dr. Leger introduced the OECD Anticorruption
Initiative for Asia-Pacific, including the results of a regional survey on challenges and bestpractices for effective Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA).
Common Challenges to Effective MLA in Corruption Cases
The first challenge is the legal basis for cooperation, which can be based on multilateral orbilateral treaties or domestic law. If two countries do not have a treaty, article 46 of UNCAC
can serve as a basis. Second, differences in legal and procedural frameworks were reported
by several countries as posing challenges to obtaining MLA due to misunderstanding of theapplicable legal basis, grounds for requests, legal and procedural requirements, among others.
Third, although many countries use English, language barriers remain, as some countries
lack translation resources. Fourth, some requests lack sufficient descriptions of the assistancerequested. In that case, the ability to communicate through informal means can help theefficient processing of requests. Fifth, some countries reported delays, insufficient responses,
or receiving no response at all to requests. While most requests are fulfilled within 6 months
to 1 year, delays in the provision of MLA frustrate efficient international cooperation and law
enforcement, enabling shell companies to disband, offenders to transfer and conceal
corruption proceeds, and offenders and witness to relocate. Sixth, resource issues were also
reported as barriers to effective MLA. The greater need for MLA has increased financial andother burdens on anti-corruption enforcement agencies, such as processing a greater numberof MLA requests, the need for more staff and training programmes, and greater need fortechnology and equipment. Finally, traditional grounds for refusing MLA include dual
criminality, evidentiary and information issues, among other grounds. According to thesurvey, the most cited reason for refusal was the failure of the request to meet evidentiary
requirements of the requested state. Evidentiary issues come into play as a practical matter aswell. If necessary documentation is not included in the request, it may be impossible toexecute, even if the information is not legally required. While dual criminality can be ahurdle, many jurisdictions take the conduct-based approach, meaning that as long as theconduct constitutes an offence in the requested state, the dual criminality requirement isdeemed to be met.
Best Practices for MLA in Corruption Cases
First, networks and relationships lead to trust and effective communication, but they taketime to develop. Countries are encouraged to engage in regular bilateral meetings among law
enforcement officials, as well as networking and exchange of practices. Second, requests
must be accompanied by supporting information that provides executing authorities with (i)adequate grounds to undertake the requested action and (ii) necessary facts and other details.
Training on MLA practices and request writing is also important. Third, consultations

between parties are encouraged under Article 48 of UNCAC. Law enforcement officials
should consider consultations at all stages of the process: from pre-request to consultation
after the request is submitted. Consultations should be viewed as complimentary to therequest writing process. Fourth, transmission and prioritization of requests is important, as
several governmental bodies may be involved in processing the request, and clear procedures
are essential. Finally, modern technology permits the efficient tracking of incoming andoutgoing MLA requests. While a number of countries have such case management tools,
other jurisdictions primarily rely on in-person contacts; the ideal approach to casemanagement combines these two approaches.
Practical Tools for Facilitating Effective MLA
To facilitate the MLA process, all jurisdictions should consider, where possible in accordancewith law, engaging in direct law enforcement cooperation, spontaneous exchanges ofinformation, and the utilization of international networks. Direct cooperation between law
enforcement agencies, such as anti-corruption authorities, FIUs, police forces, tax authorities,
and prosecution authorities, is indispensable to investigating transnational corruption.
However, the MLA process is formal and bureaucratic. Informal cooperation between law
enforcement agencies can lead to valuable intelligence to further an investigation, such asobtaining legal advice about the process, company records, general information about persons
or companies, information needed to facilitate witness interviews, and so on. Additionally,
many jurisdictions are recognizing the importance of spontaneous exchanges of information.
The primary goal of such exchanges is to serve the interests of the receiving state, but thereceiving state is obligated to maintain confidentiality. Finally, practitioners should make useof international networks to facilitate assistance, such as holding periodic meetings,involvement in international or regional networks, and stationing liaison officers abroad.
Informal and spontaneous exchanges of information must only be provided in accordancewith a jurisdiction’s legal framework.
6. MR. MOHAMAD ZAMRI BIN ZAINUL ABIDIN, Deputy Commissioner, Malaysia AntiCorruption Commission (MACC), delivered his lecture on the topic of The Latest Regional
Trends in Corruption and Effective Countermeasures by Criminal Justice Authorities—
Malaysian Perspectives. While prosecuting offenders for corruption is an important step, thistraditional approach is insufficient to combat corruption. Anti-corruption practitioners mustprioritize the confiscation of assets obtained through corruption and pursue corporate liability.
In Malaysia, these priorities are reflected in the MACC’s four operating divisions: the AMLA
Division, the High Level Task Force, Forensic and Financial Expertise, and Joint Operations.
Mr. Zamri introduced three cases to further demonstrate the issues faced in Malaysia and theMACC’s anti-corruption approaches. In the first case, smuggling was introduced as acommon form of corruption faced in Malaysia, particularly in reference to avoiding customs
duties in Free Trade Zones in which imported goods are underdeclared and smuggled out ofwarehouses. To counter this practice, the MACC stationed undercover officers in the Free
Trade Zone to identify and track smuggled goods, gathered intelligence on the bribery ofcustoms officials, and conducted simultaneous arrests of key suspects. Other key factors todisrupting this scheme included gathering financial information, working with and protecting
informants and whistleblowers, conducting Intelligence Based Investigation (IBI) andconducting parallel investigations into each criminal offence and money laundering. In thesecond case, a transnational case in which the corruption took place in Hong Kong, theMACC obtained suspicious transaction reports and other banking information to detect theflow of the bribes, but the criminals changed their modus operandi by using proxies totransfer bribe money via cash. Thus, the use of informants was important to investigate thecase and follow the cash flow. When attempting to trace bribe money, the MACC looks at
the criminal’s family tree to identify which proxies may be in possession of the illicit funds,
and persons of interest typically include the criminal’s spouse, children, mistresses, etc.
Furthermore, suspects need to be investigated with consideration of the source of the bribemoney, money laundering, and tax evasion. Finally, Mr. Zamri introduced a high-profile
corruption case, in which a former Prime Minister of Malaysia received bribe money. TheMACC collaborated with at least seven countries to investigate the case. These countries
established an international task force to facilitate the exchange of information. The MACC
also learned information about the scheme through court cases in other jurisdictions, whenimportant information became part of the public domain. Based on the information collectedusing these measures, the former Prime Minister was arrested in July 2018, his residence wassearched and assets were seized, including a $250 million superyacht. The Prime Minister
was charged in September 2018, along with his wife, and his lawyer, as well as the former
Deputy Prime Minister. The amount seized in Malaysia was over 286,000,000 ringgit (191accounts); Singapore returned SGD15 million; and the superyacht was returned. Based onthese high-value forfeitures, more assets were voluntary returned.

COUNTRY PRESENTATIONS
7. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: The delegation reported that fuel smuggling is a common problem,
and the bribery of customs officers is frequently one of the means for smuggling the fuel. The
fuel smuggling case introduced illustrated the use of undercover operations, video
surveillance, and joint operations. Other forms of corruption include public procurement
corruption, bribery of public officials and schemes to defraud the state. Brunei Darussalamalso places great emphasis on corruption education and awareness programmes for thegovernment and the private sector, with the objective of instilling integrity and core values
and promoting awareness of fighting corruption in day-to-day dealings. The ACB has
launched education programmes for primary through tertiary levels of education and has
incorporated Corruption Prevention Education into the National Curriculum.
8. CAMBODIA: The fight against corruption in public education has been a recent trend, andgreat efforts have been taken by the ACU to monitor the administration of high school
graduation exams. Monitoring is performed by 196 ACU staff members (one per testingcentre) and nearly 5,000 volunteers (one per exam room). The integrity of judges and public
officials remains a challenge in Cambodia, as illustrated by the embezzlement case presented,
in which the Secretary General of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication was foundguilty and sentenced to imprisonment and fines in the amount of 200,000 USD, and 500,000
USD was confiscated from his bank account.
9.

INDONESIA: Stressing the impact of corruption on economic and social development, thedelegation introduced Indonesia’s strategies for corruption prevention and law enforcement,including enhanced measures to institute e-procurement, protect whistleblowers, accelerate
the resolution of cases, the establishment of the TP4P and TP4D initiatives and the Special
Task Force for Countermeasure Acts and Disposal of Corruption Case (Satgasus P3TPK), etc.
These efforts recovered nearly 475 billion rupiah in 2017. The delegation reported on themisuse of legitimate business transactions as a latest corruption trend. The e-ID case, inwhich fraudulent companies were established for the specific purpose of submitting losing
bids in the public procurement process, resulted in the loss of approximately 2.3 billion
rupiah. Other schemes include set-off debt and the use of money changers to conceal illicit
money transfers.

10. JAPAN (UNAFEI): The most prevalent form of corruption in Japan is bid rigging in publicprocurement. A case involving four big construction companies was introduced. In 2018,
Japan introduced “cooperative agreements” (a kind of plea agreement) as an investigative
measure, which is useful in corruption cases.
11. LAOS: Corruption among public officials remains a challenge in Laos, resulting in significant
financial losses to the state. Forms of corruption include abuse of position, power and duty,
swindling state property, and bribery. Corruption in the financial system was also reported asa significant problem, through which offenders open and close loan accounts as a form ofcorruption. To address these problems, Laos requires public officials at all level to submit
asset declarations. Moreover, Laos is making efforts to promote public understanding andawareness of corruption in its education system from the kindergarten level to high school,increase capacity and anti-corruption awareness of public officials at all levels, increase
research on corruption, adopt stricter laws and regulations, implement the National AntiCorruption Strategy and cooperate with other countries.
12. MALAYSIA: Corruption offences in Malaysia include receiving and giving gratification, false
claims, abuse of power, money laundering and other penal code offences. In addition toprosecution of corruption cases, the MACC places great emphasis on the seizure andforfeiture of the proceeds of corruption with and without prosecution. Due to strict banking
rules in Malaysia, criminals are avoiding financial institutions by storing massive amounts ofcash in their homes. Four cases were introduced, demonstrating the characteristics of themost common forms of corruption: misuse of public funds, involvement of huge amounts ofcash, involvement of lawyers and dummy documents, and the use of proxies. The delegation
addressed operational and preventive countermeasures including effective investigation
management techniques, “Corruption-Free Pledges”, Integrity Units etc.
13. MYANMAR: Corruption among public officials remains widespread in Myanmar. A trend indeveloping leads in corruption cases is the investigation of credible news reports ofcorruption. The delegation also reported the use of administrative actions and rules to prevent
corruption, such as establishing rules on the acceptance of gifts by public officials and theirfamily members. Moreover, the Myanmar Investment Commission issued the AntiCorruption Code of Ethics for private-sector companies. Three bribery cases were introduced,
dealt with by the Anti-Corruption Commission, addressing the examination of bank records,
witness testimony, and discovering corruption leads based on “notorious news”.
14. PHILIPPINES: Corruption is a constant concern in the Philippines, and the delegation reported
numerous high-profile cases involving legislators and former presidents. From 1979 to 2016,53.58% of 33,772 corruption cases involved malversation and graft committed by highranking officials. Corruption in the Philippines generally includes bribery, kickbacks, abuseof function, influence peddling and illicit enrichment, as well as a number of other forms
unique to the Philippines, such as technical malversation, political dynasty, “ghost” projects,
etc. To counter corruption, the Philippines has developed effective prevention strategies andprogrammes developed through broad-based partnerships. Prevention measures include interagency partnerships, strengthening legislation, enhanced transparency, integrity programmes,
taking a sectoral approach to licensing and permitting, digitization of systems, merit-based
incentive programmes, and the creation of an anti-corruption hotline. Several law
enforcement measures and international cooperation and asset recovery measures were also
reported.

15. SINGAPORE: Corruption in Singapore occurs predominately in the private sector, such as inconstruction, wholesale and retail businesses, warehousing, and logistics. In response,
Singapore has undertaken measures to engage the private sector in anti-corruption efforts.
The CPIB places emphasis on disgorging illicit gains by pursuing money laundering offences,as highlighted by the introduction of cases involving money laundering and the confiscationof unexplained wealth. In the current era of transnational corruption, working with othercountries to seize and freeze assets is a key priority. An evolving challenge is the tracking
and tracing of crypto-currencies. The participant from the Attorney General’s Chambers
reviewed seminal cases in the sentencing of private-sector corruption cases and explained
Singapore’s legislative approach to inchoate corruption offences, in which an attempt, oraiding and abetting, to commit a corrupt act is deemed as commitment of the corrupt act itself.
Potential future developments include the prosecution’s proposed introduction of sentencing
matrices for corruption crimes and possible legislative amendments that enhance penalties forcorruption.
16. THAILAND: In July 2018, the new Organic Act on Counter Corruption, B.E. 2561 came intoforce. The new law (i) expands the coverage of the law to include “Public Officers”(including certain judges and officers of independent organizations, and other officialsprescribed by law); (ii) requires the review of corruption cases by the National AntiCorruption Commission; (iii) requires the transfer of all corruption arrestees to the NACC
office in Bangkok within 48 hours; and (iv) provides for time limits in the process of filing
corruption cases in court. The “Temple Corruption Scheme”, which involved defrauding thegovernment of public funds and took place in temples throughout Thailand, was introduced toillustrate the complexity of corruption schemes. Problems faced in Thailand include the lackof manpower of investigators, time limits under the new organic law, and the complexity anddifficulty of the extradition process. In response, the NACC is appointing more than 600 new
investigators, and specialized corruption courts have recently been opened in Bangkok and 9other regions.
17. VIET NAM: Property embezzlement has been, and will continue to be, a common corruption
crime in Viet Nam, especially in the private sector. The Criminal Code 2005 has been revisedin order to deal with the current corruption situation in Viet Nam and to meet the public’srequirements for, and interest in, the legal reform process. The presentation from Viet Nam
addressed the supervision of investigation, prosecution and adjudication of embezzlementcases. After introducing the substantive law and elements of embezzlement, practical tips on
matters to be proven and evidence required to prove embezzlement were presented. Key
matters during the supervision of the investigation process include determination of the legal
foundation for instituting criminal proceedings, collecting documents and evidence throughsearch and seizure, preparation and interrogation of offenders, taking testimony of witnesses,
conducting appraisals to establish damages caused by the corruption, and drafting theindictment. Prosecutors also need to improve their trial preparation, practice and presentation
skills, such as conducting a thorough review of all documents, evidence, and witness
statements, preparing for and making arguments at trial, making rebuttals and other responses.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
18. Corruption undermines the rule of law, erodes public confidence in the state, and hinders
sustainable social and economic development. While the widespread adoption of UNCAC
has led to improved anti-corruption enforcement, the increasingly transnational and complexnature of corruption has increased the challenges faced by anti-corruption practitioners,
particularly in the area of international cooperation. While anti-corruption authorities struggle
to overcome challenges in obtaining MLA—which range from different legal and procedural
frameworks to language barriers—delays in the provision of assistance enable criminals toconceal the proceeds of corruption and evade justice. Many countries continue to facetraditional forms of corruption, such as bribery, embezzlement, and smuggling. Meanwhile,
new modi operandi have been evolving, such as avoiding traditional financial systems
through the misuse of various forms of legitimate business transactions, the role of lawyers incorruption schemes, set-off debt, the use of money changers to transfer illicit funds, and theuse of cryptocurrencies for corruption. Among these trends, private-sector corruption isbecoming a greater priority in many jurisdictions.
19. To overcome these challenges, all countries are encouraged to: (i) enhance efforts to engage
in international cooperation, and, in doing so, strengthen the use of informal cooperation
mechanisms, direct law enforcement cooperation, and networking among anti-corruption
agencies; (ii) proactively seize and confiscate the proceeds of corruption and related assets;(iii) utilize special investigation measures, such as telecommunications interception,
undercover operations, cooperative agreements, etc.; (iv) provide training to respond to new
corruption trends; and (v) continue anti-corruption prevention efforts, including throughpublic education and awareness programmes.

29 NOVEMBER 2018
DA NANG, VIET NAM