BANGKOK, Oct 10 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has shared its experience and strategies in the investigation and the recovery of assets in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) case at the Regional Workshop on Denying Safe Haven to Corrupt Officials and Stolen Assets held in conjunction with the 15th Principal Meeting of the South-east Asia Parties Against Corruption (SEA-PAC) here.

MACC’s Chief Commissioner Latheefa Koya presented MACC asset recovery strategies in 1MDB case at the workshop on Tuesday.

“We shared our experience (because) we have transnational and cross border issues where the assets were in so many countries and also on our cooperation with other countries in bringing back the money,” she told Bernama here today.

Meanwhile, Latheefa said three issues were discussed and agreed during the meeting namely cooperate liability, assets recovery and deny safe haven to corrupt officials.

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“Our discussion focused mainly on tightening up the procedures, connection and networking between countries,” she said.

In a statement, SEA-PAC said the workshop aimed to explore the challenge of cross-border evasion of corrupt officials and stolen assets and encourage international cooperation as well as commitment from the Asean member countries to discuss the challenge, best practice and possible solutions.

It said cross-border evasions of corrupt officials and their illicit assets have become prevalent challenges in investigation and prosecution of corruption cases worldwide and caused a detrimental impact to the law enforcement process, stability of criminal justice system and collective efforts of all countries involved.

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“Offenders with corrupts practices flee oversea with their stolen assets in order to avoid prosecution and/or serving sentence. Law enforcement authorities often find themselves in the complexity of limitations in pursuing the culprits abroad.

“When time is of the essence, even a slight delay in transmitting intelligence can make way for another escape and fail an operation, wasting away human and financial resources.

“Therefore, it is of critical importance that governments aware of such a challenge and unite against this common threat,” it said.

The meeting also included a workshop and study tour on Promoting Anti-Bribery Compliance Culture Among Asean Businesses.

It is aimed to provide support to Asean anti-corruption agencies in identifying avenues for further engagement with relevant private and public stakeholders to promote a corruption-free business environment within Asean; and also to draw practical insights and experiences from a panel of regional experts in the field of bribery prevention and ethics compliance. — Bernama