REPORTS OF THE SEMINARGROUP 1ECONOMIC CRIME IN A GLOBALIZING SOCIETY~ITS IMPACT ON THE SOUND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE
Chairperson
Co-Chairperson
Rapporteur
Co-Rapporteur

Ms. Prudence Tangham Dohgansin
Mr. Kongchi Yangchue
Mr. Bright Oduro
Mr. Tsutomu Sunada
Mr. Hesham Mostafa Abd El kader Abo Salem
Mr. Suharto
Mr. Tomoyuki Mizuno(Cameroon)(Laos)(Ghana)(Japan)(Egypt)(Indonesia)(Japan)Advisers

Prof. Sue Takasu
Prof. Keisuke Senta
Prof. Kei Someda(UNAFEI)(UNAFEI)(UNAFEI)

I. INTRODUCTION
The work of the group was preceded by plenary sessions during which individual presentations ofparticipants from the respective countries, lectures and professional guidance by experts and UNAFEI
professors were made. These presentations provided a lead to the seminar’s content and the issues of focus
for the group’s discussion.
The Group discussed and explored ways of confronting the menace of economic crime in this globalizing
society. Indeed consideration was given to the forms and manifestations of economic crime as they occur inthe individual countries, and the problems they present to their respective criminal justice systems. Efforts
were made to identify various countermeasures as far as investigations and trials are concerned.
Emphasis was also laid on the mechanisms of preventing the scourge and the need to develop, sharpen
and improve the requisite tools and institutions in the criminal justice system so as to create a disincentive
for the economic criminal.

II. CURRENT SITUATION AND THE PROBLEMS OF SERIOUS ECONOMIC
CRIME IN PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
We are confronted with the traditional types of serious economic crimes and the new types. In regard to
the traditional type, corruption was identified by all countries as a serious economic crime largely
responsible for the continued economic instability in many developing and some developed countries. In
regard to the new types, we also agreed cyber fraud, securities crime, credit card fraud, drug/narcotic trade
offences, money laundering, smuggling, trademark and copyright offences need to be addressed with therecent rapid development in communications technology and transportation. Specifically, serious problems in
Cameroon are fraud related crimes by offenders referred to as feyman, embezzlement and corruption. In
Egypt, large scale money laundering effects the national income. In Ghana, serious economic crimes takethe form of fraud by agents of state and in the private sector who usually have a considerable amount of
power. In Indonesia, the advancement in telecommunications and computers has opened up possibilities forthe commission of many economic crimes. In Laos, the extent of economic crime is quite low but tax
evasion, falsification of accounts and the illegal use of checks or banknotes are harming the economy. In
Japan, underground banks have sent a huge amount of money to overseas illegally.
In all countries, the serious problems of weak capacities and inaccessibility to information of law
enforcement officers greatly hamper the investigation and the detection of these offences. In addition, thecurrent criminal legal framework has become inadequate to combat economic crimes.

III. PROBLEMS AND COUNTERMEASURES IN REGARD TO THE
INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL OF ECONOMIC CRIME
Several issues were identified as major constraints in the trial and pre-trial processes. However, thegroup focused its discussions on problems critical to the investigative apparatus and the collection of189

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evidence relevant to securing an appropriate adjudication.

A. The Investigative Apparatus
Economic crime has been traditionally investigated by the conventional law enforcement agencies suchas the police, prosecution services, customs, tax offices and so forth. However, because of the proliferationof economic crime and globalizing society, etc., we came to face difficulties in investigating serious economic
crime by the conventional investigative apparatus. This situation led to the recent creation of special
investigative bodies to exclusively investigate serious economic crime (see Appendix).
The functioning of these conventional and special bodies in some countries is nonetheless hampered byvarious problems, which were observed to be similar and common in nature.
(i) Lack of independence in initiating and conducting investigations(ii) Lack of expertise of investigative bodies(iii) Inadequate and inappropriate human and material resources
1. Elaboration of Item i and its Countermeasures
The group observed that even though investigative agencies derive their authority from relevant
legislative provisions to initiate investigations into serious economic crimes, there are in some countries,
certain restrictive provisions that require them to initially seek executive authorization before certainclasses of persons can be investigated. In other countries even though such express legal provisions don’t
exist, investigators still wait on orders from the executive. These express or implied impediments to theeffective functioning of investigators and prosecutors are prevalent where top officials of Government are
major suspects.
It is therefore recommended that these restrictive laws, which provide some privilege (immunity) to acertain category of persons, be reviewed to enable investigative agencies to operate independently.
The institution of watchdog units from the general public is an appropriate mechanism to monitor theinvestigative apparatus and guard against interference and undue influence.
2. Elaboration of Item ii and its Countermeasures
Participants observed that due to the advancement in telecommunication and computer technology as
well as developments in the stock market, the economic criminal has become more sophisticated. Criminal
acts such as insider trading, market manipulation, cyber fraud, embezzlement and various forms ofcorruption in public and corporate life require technical and professional expertise to investigate them.
In some countries, there is no special body to investigate serious economic crime. In such countries, theestablishment of a special independent or autonomous investigative body with sufficient expertise should be
encouraged.
Where however such special investigative bodies have been established, great attention should be given
to building the appropriate expertise. The first suggestion is that special training in the relevant areas of
economic activities such as legislative knowledge (newly introduced legislation), accounting, auditing,management and stock brokerage should be provided to the investigators.
Secondly, relevant experts like certified public accountants (CPA), lawyers, bankers and computer
technologists should be invited. For this purpose a list of experts should be established to assist
investigators and prosecutors. This requires the selection of renowned experts who possess the skill anduseful knowledge relevant in detecting the commission of economic crime.
3. Recommendations Concerning Item iii
Participants noted the inability to appreciate the dimension of the harm caused by serious economic
crime. This has led to the low prioritization by governments in providing adequate budgetary allocation to
the agencies in charge of investigation of such crime. It was therefore recommended that raising publicawareness is most appropriate to increasing the political will required to secure adequate financial andhuman resources.

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B. Collection of Evidence and Securing an Appropriate adjudication
1. Search & Seizure(i) Authorization for basic search and seizure
The mandatory practice in most countries is for search and/or seizure warrants to be issued by the
court or the public prosecutor. Delays in obtaining these orders constitute a constraint to theeffective investigation of modern economic crimes whose modus operandi necessitate prompt
interventions for the collection of relevant material evidence. As an example, warrants cannot be
obtained during holidays and weekends in some countries. Adopting the system where a judge andprosecutor are both available in office around the clock was recommended for ensuring that warrants
are obtained whenever necessary. Participants however noted that the putting in place of a systemshould ensure a careful balance between the need for an expeditious process in obtaining warrants
and the respect for the human rights of the suspect and his/her relations.

(ii) Interception of communication
Another point of observation made was that in some countries, investigators are empowered by law
to intercept electronic communications and conversations of criminal gangs in cases of murder andnarcotic trading but under very strict conditions. It was recommended, these laws could be extended
to cover situations involving serious economic crime in order to facilitate the process ofinvestigation.
(iii) Trans-border search and seizure
A real and practical constraint relating to search and seizure, involves trans-border money
laundering. Investigators are yet to overcome the legal technicalities in conducting search andseizure beyond national borders notwithstanding the ratification by their countries of relevant
treaties or Conventions. As an effective strategy to overcome this difficulty, the establishment ofbilateral and/or multilateral agreements necessary to strengthen international cooperation andcollaboration is recommended. Beyond this, investigative agencies within the member countries arefurther encouraged to establish inter-agency links by having memorandum of understanding (MOU).
2. Banking Transactions and Protecting Confidentiality
A major common problem faced by investigators is that the crime proceeds obtained from economic
crime are lodged in banks to hide their links, and it is sometimes difficult for investigators to accessinformation on the state of the account owing to restrictive laws or special complex procedures that provide
confidentiality and protection to the banking sector. In addition, in countries with no centralized banking datasystem for financial institutions accessing information of suspicious’ accounts poses an enormous difficulty
in detecting the movement of crime proceeds.
It has now become necessary to review or reform these laws and practices in order to enable
investigators to have necessary access to information on any account credited with illegal proceeds.
A centralized data system for banks will provide easy access and facilitate the process of investigations.
In order to effectively detect proceeds of crime in bank accounts, every financial institution in the world
should institute and apply policies favourable to better knowing their customers. Recommended practices
include “Customer Due Diligence” and a “Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) System” provided by the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations. Governments are recommended to report every
financial transaction beyond a specified amount of money.
3. Securing and Protecting Witnesses
A major constraint identified in collecting evidence was the difficulties in securing the appearance of
witnesses in serious economic offences for several reasons; fear, time and money.
(i) Fear
Witnesses to such crimes express fear and feel insecure about being identified where the suspects
are high-ranking political officials or members of organized criminal groups and likely to retaliate
against their person, property and family members.
As a countermeasure, investigators must ensure that witnesses are not confronted with suspects at
an investigational stage. At the preliminary enquiry and trial stage, countries should endeavour to191

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provide screens or partitions to protect the identities of witnesses, or where possible use videolinks. To guarantee protection after trial, witness protection programmes such as relocation and theprovision of a new identity might deserve some consideration. Intimidation towards witnesses
should be criminalized and punished severely.

(ii) Time-consuming procedures caused by the delay in the justice system
There are many causes resulting in the delay of the criminal justice system. The complicated natureof economic crime sometimes requires a lengthy period to carry out investigations and trial, and insome countries, the trial is repeatedly adjourned.
As a countermeasure, it was recommended that countries put in place mechanisms to expedite boththe investigative and trial processes to avoid such undue delays that could keep off vital witnesses.

(iii) Lack of funds for travel expenses
Sometimes witnesses personally have to incur travel costs to testify, thus placing on themselves afinancial burden without compensation. In some cases, witnesses are often reluctant to turn up whensummoned.
As an incentive to secure the appearance of witnesses, it was recommended that a compensation
scheme be instituted to cover travel expenses for such witnesses. In countries where such a scheme
exists, its implementation should be made more effective and timely.
4. Questioning Suspects
Each country was found to possess a procedural system that recognizes the right of the suspect to give
evidence free of duress and renders inadmissible evidence induced or extorted from the accused. These
legal requirements notwithstanding, the practice was found to be tainted with cases of violations byinvestigation officers. The group identified the growing concerns of the society on the increasing use ofconfessions in the investigation of serious economic crimes and the extent to which such statements are
realistically made through the free will of the deponents.
To install public confidence in the use of confession as an evidentiary tool and strengthen the guaranteeof the accused rights during investigations, reforms in the investigative process to guard against any
possible violations were recommended. Appropriate countermeasures should include, reforms which allow
defence counsel to be present at all stages of interrogating suspects and/or the use of video tapes to record
such questioning sessions.

IV. PREVENTION OF ECONOMIC CRIME
A. Public AwarenessParticipants took cognizance of the enormous resources it demands from governments as well as theinsurmountable difficulties they encounter in detecting and investigating serious economic crimes.
Repressive measures were thus becoming increasingly insufficient to reverse the growing trend in thecommission of this class of offence. Prevention through public awareness was considered an appropriate
strategy to involve all segments of the society in overcoming the complexities and peculiarities thatcharacterize detection and investigation of serious economic crime. To ensure any success in the use of thisoption, a framework for designing and implementing a public awareness programme that targets serious
economic crime was proposed.
1. The Approach
Public awareness as a prevention option calls for raising the level of consciousness and responsiveness toserious economic crime in the general public.
Participants concluded that through public awareness, public collaboration can be better guaranteed as
informed citizens willingly provide information on suspicious activities or groups and will exhibit greater
tolerance with protracted judicial processes. Most importantly, citizens are more likely to guard against
victimization by unscrupulous offenders.
The content of public awareness programmes should therefore focus on the identified types of serious
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public collaboration for prevention.
2. Institutional Framework
Each country was found to have put in place some mechanism relevant to creating public awareness onsome serious economic crimes. Nevertheless, the measures adopted were either at an embryonic stage or
ill-adapted to emerging forms of serious economic crime. With regard to existing institutional arrangements,
these were sectoral based with the investigative and prosecution agencies having the sole responsibility of
informing the public. In other countries, commissions with public awareness functions have been established
to combat specified economic crime such as corruption and fraud. Extending this approach to other forms ofserious economic crime is favourable to harmonizing action by various institutions, which can also provide
statistics for the number of various economic crimes as basic information for public awareness. It was agreed
that governments should be encouraged to institute multidisciplinary approaches involving government
institutions, the private sector, NGO’s and local community institutions.
3. Communication Channels
Strategic tools and channels for communication were found to differ with countries. However, foreffective results, the option of communication channels should be determined based on the serious
economic crime targeted:
4. Publicity by the Mass MediaThe arrest of politicians and high ranking government officials for bribery and other forms of economic
crime, and the search of premises relating to securities fraud always make sensational news in many
countries. It was agreed that this information delivered by the mass media is the most effective method toraise public awareness about serious economic crime and deter them from committing it. However in somecountries the state controls the public media and often due to political reasons censors information for public
consumption. The situation does not promote transparency and obviously tends to shield wrongdoers in
responsible positions of trust who misconduct themselves whilst in public office.
As a recommendation Governments should create an enabling environment that will ensure press
freedom and enable the mass media to operate freely and independently.
5. Public Shame List
The publishing of a ‘shame list’ modelled after the Corruption Perception Index of the German based
Transparency International and Current list of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories of the Financial
Action Task Force showing the number of public officials in various ministries implicated in acts ofcorruption and other economic crimes was considered an appropriate public awareness strategy that will act
as a catalyst for Government and people concerned to do more to restore some sanity into the system.
Where necessary, the names of high-ranking public officials convicted can also be published on the ‘shame
list’. In order to respect the rights of the accused person this approach should be adopted when judgments
have been finalized.
6. Community AwarenessIn many countries chiefs and community leaders wield influence and traditional power over their subjects
and can influence decisions in their communities.
The group suggested that these leaders could be used as a mouthpiece for various public awarenessprogrammes where the dangers in giving and or accepting bribes as well as other crimes of an economic
nature can be further espoused.
7. Pamphlets and Posters
In some countries the Department of the Ministry of Information or the Mayor’s office collates
information on important events and informs the public through a public address system or distribution ofpamphlets and materials. It is recommended that such an approach be adopted for serious economic crimes.

(i) Youth awareness
It was noted that a strong impact could be made in preventing economic crimes, such as cybercrime, if the Internet generation, especially the youth are targeted and made to benefit from an

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appropriate awareness programme. A start could be made in schools by incorporating into theschools’ activities special programmes that seek to educate the youth on the various forms of
economic crime and the harm to the nation’s economy.

(ii) Publication of declared assets
A useful approach adopted by some countries to combat corruption and misappropriation of publicfunds is the mandatory requirement for politicians and high-ranking public officials to declare theirassets before they assume office. The enforcement and effective outcome of this approach has been
fraught with a lot of difficulties. It is in this regard that the publication of declared assets in thenational gazettes and the print media is recommended as appropriate to procuring the public alertand detection of any investments from illegal proceeds by high-ranking officials.
(iii) Complaint centres
The institution of a private Consumer Centre by some countries was found to be effective inreceiving all kinds of complaints from consumers relating to fraudulent commercial behaviours ofcorporations, forwarding the same to investigative bodies and feeding back results to the public.
Based on the successful output of these centres in preventing victimization the adoption andadaptation of a similar system to other economic crime was encouraged.
(iv) Creation of a website on economic crime
Considering the rapid increase across the globe of Internet users, public information through the
web constitutes an appropriate channel to create awareness in the global community on serious
economic crime. It is recommended that an ‘alert system’ be created on the Internet for its users tolearn more about these crimes. The group suggested that investigative bodies and other law
enforcement agencies in the countries work together with various Crime foundations, NGOs and theInternational Police Organizations (INTERPOL) in making this operational.

V. STRENGTHENING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND COUNTERMEASURESOF ECONOMIC CRIME
Priority was given by the group to issues relevant to criminalizing new types of harmful economic
activities and recovery of damage.

A. Criminalization of New Types of Harmful Economic Activities
Economic activities have been diversified by reason of the development of communications andtransportation. As a result, we are confronted with conceivable harmful economic activities. We recognizedthat the following crimes emerging from harmful economic activities have a negative impact on the economy.
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Obstruction of justice
Theft or espionage of data or information (e.g. illegal access to data)
Piracy (e.g. illegal copyying of software, CD, DVD, etc.)
Money laundering of proceeds derived from old crimes and emerging harmful economic activities
Securities crimes (e.g. insider trading , manipulation of stock prices)
Environmentally harmful activities
Mal usage of automatic teller machines (ATMs)
Possession of forged payment cards (e.g. credit cards, telephone cards)
Non-delivery of contract documents, including important contents to consumers in advance

In some countries, some of the above-mentioned have recently been criminalized. In others, apart frommoney laundering arising out of the drug trade, proceeds from other predicate offences such as smuggling,
human trafficking, organized criminal activities, etc. that generate money laundering have not been
criminalized. It was also observed that in other countries some of these harmful activities have not yet
emerged, and are therefore not criminalized.
Participants agreed that all of the countries should endeavour to criminalize these harmful activities
regardless of the extent of damage on the state’s economy, since these activities are often committed beyond
the borders. To facilitate international mutual legal assistance, we recommended the establishment of aconvention to criminalize these emerging harmful economic activities to enhance international cooperation.

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B. Recovery of Damage
It was noted that the conventional notion of the purpose of the criminal procedures was primarily topunish the offenders and deprive them of the proceeds of crime. Therefore, recovery of damages of thevictims has been set aside as secondary in terms of criminal procedures. However, we originally passed acriminal code to prevent victimization in a sense, and it is a matter of course and very important to make theoffenders compensate for damages caused by their criminal acts. We need to make efforts to recover thedamage of economic crime as much as possible.
Quantifying damages and the capacity of criminal processes to ensure compensation, was identified as areal challenge to attaining this objective.
1. Quantum of Damage
A lot of difficulties are encountered in identifying the damage caused by economic crimes. Some serious
economic crimes such as consumer fraud and Internet fraud generate numerous victims, and sometimes it isalmost impossible to identify all the victims. Furthermore, it is very difficult to identify the quantum ofdamages in some serious economic crimes like corporate crime and securities crime. To overcome such
substantial problems, there is a need to establish appropriate procedures to ensure considerable
compensation. Specifically, the courts need to pay attention to equality of compensation in the course ofrecovery of damages.
2. Criminal/Civil Process
In some countries the law allows the criminal court to make orders for compensation to the victims of
economic crime, yet in other systems recovery is restricted to the jurisdiction of the civil court. However, inother systems, upon the classification of an economic crime as a felony the court becomes incompetent toaddress any issue of compensation. However, the pursuit of civil action in some countries is again madeunattractive by certain judicial procedures and obstacles that come in the way of the victim.
For example, the subsequent institution of a criminal action leads to an adjournment sine die of the civil
action pending the determination of the criminal action. In other systems, the success of the civil action isfurther unlikely where the prosecutor loses his/her criminal action. In addition most legal systems have nosupport facility by way of legal assistance for a civil action especially where the victim is not in a position to
pay for the services of counsel. Participants also noted the existence of international legal assistance in civil
matters which can support a victim’s claim but apparently the procedure is cumbersome anddisadvantageous.
3. Countermeasures
In the light of the foregoing observations participants called for a review of existing legal procedures asfollows:(i) Empower criminal courts to make compensation orders as is appropriate and equitable based on theevidence adduced. In addition for a time and cost effective approach, the criminal courts should
encourage negotiations or settlement between the parties, especially where the defendant pleads
guilty. However, the court should take due cognizance of the interest of other victims who may not
be listed in the indictments.
(ii) Keep civil and criminal actions as independent and separate processes particularly where civil action
by a victim precedes the criminal litigation. Where the existing criminal procedures are favourable, aconsolidation of the criminal and civil action should be encouraged.
(iii) Institute a legal support system for victims who are financially weak to procure the services ofcounsel in a civil action.
(iv) Countries should further facilitate access to international legal assistance in civil matters for victims
of massive economic crimes who are compelled to take civil action against perpetrators who may
have crossed borders. To overcome the complex procedure involved in executing civil judgments andpursuing illegal proceeds abroad, countries should be encouraged to ratify the existing international
instruments relevant to recovery of damages, e.g. the United Nations Convention against corruption
and the United Nations Convention against transnational organized crime.
(v) To overcome delays in the recovery of damage process arising out of appeals from defendants, thecourts should be empowered to make such provisional execution orders as it deems appropriate forrecovery, particularly in countries where the courts have no such powers.

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APPENDIX

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE AGENCIES FOR ECONOMIC CRIMEStatesInvestigative Agencies

Cameroon National Commission for Corruption, Economic Crime Unit of the Police and the Gendarme
Egypt

Economic Crime Units of the Police, Special Prosecution Unit for Financial, Commercial
and Smuggling matters, Special Prosecution Unit for Tax Evasion/Corruption

Ghana

Serious Fraud Office, Narcotic Control Board, Economic Crime Unit of the Police

Japan

Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for Anti-Monopoly Law, Securities and Exchange
Surveillance Commission (SESC), Consumer and Environmental Protection Division of the
National Police Agency, Special Investigative Department of the Public Prosecutors Office

Laos

Economic Crime Department of the Police

Indonesia

Corruption Commission, National Narcotic Board, Economic Crime Investigation Divisionof the Police

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