I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5603 

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to pay rewards under an asset 

recovery rewards program to help identify and recover stolen assets 

linked to foreign government corruption and the proceeds of such corruption hidden behind complex financial structures in the United States 

and abroad. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2016 

Mr. LYNCH (for himself and Mr. ROTHFUS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to pay rewards 

under an asset recovery rewards program to help identify 

and recover stolen assets linked to foreign government 

corruption and the proceeds of such corruption hidden 

behind complex financial structures in the United States 

and abroad. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 (a) The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kleptocracy Asset 

5 Recovery Rewards Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative 

4 (StAR), a World Bank and United Nations anti5 money-laundering effort, estimates that between $20 

6 billion to $40 billion has been lost to developing 

7 countries annually through corruption. 

8 (2) In 2014, more than $480 million in corrup9 tion proceeds hidden in bank accounts around the 

10 world by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and 

11 his co-conspirators was forfeited through efforts by 

12 the Department of Justice. 

13 (3) In 2010, the Department of Justice estab14 lished the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, to 

15 work in partnership with Federal law enforcement 

16 agencies to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official 

17 corruption and, where appropriate, return those pro18 ceeds to benefit the people harmed by these acts of 

19 corruption and abuse of office. 

20 (4) Of the $20 billion to $40 billion lost by de21 veloping countries annually through corruption, only 

22 about $5 billion has been repatriated in the last 15 

23 years. 

24 (5) Governments weakened by corruption and 

25 loss of assets due to corruption have fewer resources 

26 to devote to the fight against terrorism and fewer reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Jul 01, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5603.IH H5603

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1 sources to devote to building strong financial, law 

2 enforcement, and judicial institutions to aid in the 

3 fight against the financing of terrorism. 

4 (6) The United States has a number of effective 

5 programs to reward individuals who provide valuable 

6 information that assist in the identification, arrest, 

7 and conviction of criminal actors and their associ8 ates, as well as seizure and forfeiture of illicitly de9 rived assets and the proceeds of criminal activity. 

10 (7) The Internal Revenue Service has the Whis11 tleblower Program, which pays awards to individuals 

12 who provide specific and credible information to the 

13 IRS if the information results in the collection of 

14 taxes, penalties, interest or other amounts from non15 compliant taxpayers. 

16 (8) The Department of State administers re17 wards programs on international terrorism, illegal 

18 narcotics, and transnational organized crime with 

19 the goal of bringing perpetrators to justice. 

20 (9) None of these existing rewards programs 

21 specifically provide monetary incentives for identi22 fying and recovering stolen assets linked solely to 

23 foreign government corruption, as opposed to crimi24 nal prosecutions or civil or criminal forfeitures. 


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1 (10) The recovery of stolen assets linked to for2 eign government corruption and the proceeds of such 

3 corruption may not always involve a BSA violation 

4 or lead to a forfeiture action. In such cases there 

5 would be no ability to pay rewards under existing 

6 Treasury Department authorities. 

7 (11) Foreign government corruption can take 

8 many forms but typically entails government officials 

9 stealing, misappropriating, or illegally diverting as10 sets and funds from their own government treasuries 

11 to enrich their personal wealth directly through em12 bezzlement or bribes to allow government resources 

13 to be expended in ways that are not transparent and 

14 may not either be necessary or be the result of open 

15 competition. Corruption also includes situations 

16 where public officials take bribes to allow govern17 ment resources to be expended in ways which are 

18 not transparent and may not be necessary or the re19 sult of open competition. These corrupt officials 

20 often use the United States and international finan21 cial system to hide their stolen assets and the pro22 ceeds of corruption. 

23 (12) The individuals who come forward to ex24 pose foreign governmental corruption and kleptocra25 cy often do so at great risk to their own safety and 


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1 that of their immediate family members and face re2 taliation from persons who exercise foreign political 

3 or governmental power. Monetary rewards and the 

4 potential award of asylum can provide a necessary 

5 incentive to expose such corruption and provide a fi6 nancial means to provide for their well-being and 

7 avoid retribution. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that a Department of the Treasury stolen asset re10 covery rewards program to help identify and recover stolen 

11 financial assets linked to foreign government corruption 

12 and the proceeds of such corruption hidden behind com13 plex financial structures is needed in order to— 

14 (1) intensify the global fight against corruption; 

15 and 

16 (2) serve United States efforts to identify and 

17 recover such stolen assets, forfeit proceeds of such 

18 corruption, and, where appropriate and feasible, re19 turn the stolen assets or proceeds thereof to the 

20 country harmed by the acts of corruption. 

21 SEC. 3. IN GENERAL. 

22 (a) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY KLEPTOCRACY

23 ASSET RECOVERY REWARDS PROGRAM.—Chapter 97 of 

24 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 9706. Department of the Treasury Kleptocracy 

2 Asset Recovery Rewards Program 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

5 Department of the Treasury a program to be known 

6 as the ‘Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Pro7 gram’ for the payment of rewards to carry out the 

8 purposes of this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The rewards program shall be 

10 designed to support United States Government pro11 grams and investigations aimed at eliminating from 

12 accounts at U.S. financial institutions any stolen as13 sets linked to foreign government corruption and the 

14 proceeds of such corruption. 

15 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The rewards program 

16 shall be administered by, and at the sole discretion 

17 of, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation, as 

18 appropriate, with the Secretary of State, the Attor19 ney General, and the heads of such other depart20 ments and agencies as the Secretary may find ap21 propriate. 

22 ‘‘(b) REWARDS AUTHORIZED.—In the sole discretion 

23 of the Secretary and in consultation, as appropriate, with 

24 the heads of other relevant Federal departments or agen25 cies, the Secretary may pay a reward to any individual 

26 who furnishes information leading to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the restraining or seizure of stolen assets 

2 in an account at a U.S. financial institution, that 

3 come within the United States, or that come within 

4 the possession or control of any United States per5 son, including any foreign branch linked to foreign 

6 government corruption or the proceeds of foreign 

7 government corruption; 

8 ‘‘(2) the forfeiture of stolen assets in an ac9 count at a U.S. financial institution, that come with10 in the United States, or that come within the posses11 sion or control of any United States person linked 

12 to foreign government corruption or the proceeds of 

13 foreign government corruption; or 

14 ‘‘(3) where appropriate, the repatriation of sto15 len assets in an account at a U.S. financial institu16 tion, that come within the United States, or that 

17 come within the possession or control of any United 

18 States person linked to foreign government corrup19 tion or proceeds of foreign government corruption. 

20 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—To ensure that the pay22 ment of rewards pursuant to this section does not 

23 duplicate or interfere with any other payment au24 thorized by the Department of Justice or other Fed25 eral law enforcement agencies for the obtaining of 


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1 information or other evidence, the Secretary of the 

2 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of 

3 State, the Attorney General, and the heads of such 

4 other agencies as the Secretary may find appro5 priate, shall establish procedures for the offering, 

6 administration, and payment of rewards under this 

7 section, including procedures for— 

8 ‘‘(A) identifying actions with respect to 

9 which rewards will be offered; 

10 ‘‘(B) the receipt and analysis of data; and 

11 ‘‘(C) the payment of rewards and approval 

12 of such payments. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRIOR APPROVAL OF THE ATTORNEY GEN14 ERAL REQUIRED.—Before making a reward under 

15 this section in a matter over which there is Federal 

16 criminal jurisdiction, the Secretary of the Treasury 

17 shall obtain the written concurrence of the Attorney 

18 General. 

19 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF REWARDS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SOURCE OF PAYMENTS.—Any rewards 

21 paid pursuant to this section shall be paid from the 

22 Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. 

23 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—Ex24 cept as provided under paragraph (3), the total 


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1 amount of rewards paid pursuant to this section 

2 may not exceed $25,000,000 in any calendar year. 

3 ‘‘(3) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY.—The Presi4 dent may waive the limitation under paragraph (2) 

5 with respect to a calendar year if the President pro6 vides written notice of such waiver to the Secretary 

7 and the appropriate committees of the Congress at 

8 least 30 days before any payment in excess of such 

9 limitation is made pursuant to this section. 

10 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS AND CERTIFICATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—No award 

12 may be made under this section based on informa13 tion submitted to the Secretary unless such informa14 tion is submitted under penalty of perjury. 

15 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—No reward paid 

16 under this section may exceed $5,000,000, except as 

17 personally authorized in writing by the Secretary, if 

18 the Secretary determines that offer or payment of a 

19 reward of a greater amount is necessary in excep20 tional cases. 

21 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No reward amount 

23 may be paid under this section without the 

24 written approval and certification of the Sec25 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DELEGATION.—The Secretary may 

2 not delegate the certification required under 

3 subparagraph (A) to anyone other than an 

4 Under Secretary of the Department of the 

5 Treasury. 

6 ‘‘(4) PROTECTION MEASURES.—If the Secretary 

7 determines that the identity of the recipient of a re8 ward or of the members of the recipient’s immediate 

9 family must be protected, the Secretary shall take 

10 such measures in connection with the payment of 

11 the reward as the Secretary considers necessary to 

12 effect such protection. 

13 ‘‘(5) FORMS OF REWARD PAYMENT.—The Sec14 retary may make a reward under this section in the 

15 form of a monetary payment. 

16 ‘‘(f) INELIGIBILITY, REDUCTION IN, OR DENIAL OF

17 REWARD.— 

18 ‘‘(1) OFFICER AND EMPLOYEES.—An officer or 

19 employee of any entity of Federal, State, or local 

20 government or of a foreign government who, while in 

21 the performance of official duties, furnishes informa22 tion described under subsection (b) shall not be eligi23 ble for a reward under this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING INDIVIDUALS.—If the 

25 claim for a reward is brought by an individual who 


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1 planned, initiated, directly participated in, or facili2 tated the actions that led to assets of a foreign state 

3 or governmental entity being stolen, misappro4 priated, or illegally diverted or to the payment of 

5 bribes or other foreign governmental corruption, the 

6 Secretary may appropriately reduce such award. If 

7 such individual is convicted of criminal conduct aris8 ing from the role described in the preceding sen9 tence, the Secretary shall deny any reward. 

10 ‘‘(g) DETERMINATIONS OF SECRETARY.—A deter11 mination made by the Secretary under this section shall 

12 be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial 

13 review. 

14 ‘‘(h) REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days of the en16 actment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 

17 Secretary shall issue a report to the appropriate 

18 committees of the Congress— 

19 ‘‘(A) detailing to the greatest extent pos20 sible the amount, location, and ownership or 

21 beneficial ownership of any stolen assets that, 

22 on or after the date of the enactment of this 

23 section, come within the United States or that 

24 come within the possession or control of any 


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1 United States person, including any foreign 

2 branch; 

3 ‘‘(B) discussing efforts being undertaken 

4 to identify more such stolen assets and their 

5 owners or beneficial owners; and 

6 ‘‘(C) including a discussion of the inter7 actions of the Department of the Treasury with 

8 the international financial institutions (as de9 fined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International 

10 Financial Institutions Act) to identify the 

11 amount, location, and ownership, or beneficial 

12 ownership, of stolen assets held in financial in13 stitutions outside the United States. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING INVESTIGA15 TIONS.—The report issued under paragraph (1) 

16 shall not include information related to ongoing in17 vestigations. 

18 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF THE CON20 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of the 

21 Congress’ means the Committees on Financial Serv22 ices, Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary of the House 

23 of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, 

24 Housing, and Urban Affairs, Foreign Relations, and 

25 the Judiciary of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL ASSET.—The term ‘financial 

2 asset’ means any funds, as defined by the Secretary, 

3 that on or after the date of the enactment of this 

4 section come within the United States or that come 

5 within the possession or control of any United States 

6 person, including any foreign branch. Such term 

7 shall include— 

8 ‘‘(A) cash; 

9 ‘‘(B) equity; or 

10 ‘‘(C) any other intangible asset whose 

11 value is derived from a contractual claim, in12 cluding bank deposits, bonds, stocks, a security 

13 as defined in section 2(a) of the Securities Act 

14 of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(a)), or a security or an 

15 equity security as defined in section 3(a) of the 

16 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

17 78c(a)). 

18 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION.— 

19 The term foreign government corruption includes 

20 bribery of a foreign public official, or the misappro21 priation, theft, or embezzlement of public funds or 

22 property by or for the benefit of a foreign public of23 ficial. 

24 ‘‘(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term 

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1 vidual, has the meaning given the term ‘member of 

2 the immediate family’ under section 36(k) of the 

3 State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 

4 U.S.C. 2708(k)). 

5 ‘‘(5) REWARDS PROGRAM.—The term ‘rewards 

6 program’ means the program established in sub7 section (a)(1) of this section. 

8 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

10 ‘‘(7) STOLEN ASSETS.—The term ‘stolen assets’ 

11 means financial assets within the jurisdiction of the 

12 United States, constituting, derived from, or trace13 able to, any proceeds obtained directly or indirectly 

14 from foreign government corruption.’’. 

15 (b) REPORT ON DISPOSITION OF RECOVERED AS16 SETS.—Within 180 days of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the ap18 propriate committees of Congress (as defined under sec19 tion 9706(i) of title 31, United States Code) describing 

20 policy choices for disposition of stolen assets recovered 

21 pursuant to section 9706 of title 31, United States Code. 

22 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

23 of contents for chapter 97 of title 31, United States Code, 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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‘‘9706. Department of the Treasury Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Program.’’. 

Æ 


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