Corruption and Proceeds of Crime Recovery

Corruption and Proceeds of Crime Recovery

In a world of ever-larger corruption scandals that shake governments, institutions and the lives of ordinary citizens, Sequor Law’s anti-corruption practitioners are on the front lines of the fight to deprive corrupt actors of their ill-gotten gains. Accustomed to handling matters with overlapping civil, criminal and regulatory dimensions, Sequor Law prosecutes cases all along the litigation cycle, from dealing with whistleblowers, to coordinating a sensitive investigation of a politically exposed person or former government employee, to seeking comity recognition and enforcement of a foreign freeze order or other injunction, to prosecuting cases in U.S. courts and supervising cases pending before one or more foreign courts.  Sequor Law also brings extensive experience coordinating with criminal and regulatory authorities in cross-border corruption cases having worked with financial investigation units, central authorities and anti-corruption bureaus.  Sequor Law has been consulted in connection with corruption-related mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) requests and in connection with corruption-related plea and restitution arrangements.

Sequor Law represents sovereigns and their instrumentalities and state-owned enterprises to pursue persons and businesses that have reaped financial gain through corrupt acts, including bid-rigging and other illicit cartel behavior. Sequor Law’s anti-corruption team focuses on disrupting the wrongdoer’s inner circle, utilizing powerful tools like asset freeze orders and other pre-judgment remedies, discrete but calculated methods of discovering concealed assets and beneficial ownership information, insolvency remedies, and direct claims against wrongdoers and third-party facilitators of corruption and kleptocracy.  Sequor Law has also paved the way in deploying pre-suit tools such as the versatile 28 U.S.C. § 1782 statute to gather evidence for use in corruption cases and made law in the sphere of insolvency as a potential “nuclear weapon” for asset recovery in corruption cases.

Sequor Law’s leadership in the anti-corruption field stretches from the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) FraudNet to the International Bar Association (IBA) where its lawyers have led the asset recovery subcommittee.  Sequor Law’s professionals are regularly called to present at leading anti-corruption gatherings around the world including for Transparency International and the OECD.  Sequor Law has collaborated with the World Bank and Basel Institute in conducting anti-corruption research and compiling best practice guides.  Sequor Law has also co-chaired the annual Florida International University College of Law Anti-Corruption Conference bringing together government representatives, NGOs and academics from around the world to discuss the role of asset recovery in anti-corruption cases.

Sequor Law is committed to its anti-corruption mission because corruption undermines the rule of law, fosters impunity, and deprives citizens, including vulnerable populations, of essential services and basic human rights.  Depriving corrupt actors from the fruits of their illicit actions has to be one of the fronts in this multi-faceted fight.

Representative Cases

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Represents the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in related fraud and corruption cases in numerous jurisdictions including Florida, Liechtenstein, the Bahamas, Panama and Switzerland. These cases involved extensive coordination with governmental authorities in multiple jurisdictions, assistance with the drafting of mutual legal assistance (MLAT) requests to multiple jurisdictions in coordination with our clients and assistance in support of extradition proceedings. These cases resulted in the freezing, recovery and repatriation of assets to the victim government of over US$5 million, settlements for damages claims of over US$5 million, and savings of over US$30 million in the invalidation of a fraudulent contract. This case also involved significant capacity building with the relevant authorities in Trinidad.

Represented the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in a government corruption case in numerous jurisdictions including Florida, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Isle ofMan and Cayman. This civil case resulted in the freezing, recovery and repatriation of stolen assets to the victim government, the repatriation of US$12 million to the client and the cancellation of a fraudulent contract that saved the government over US$20 million in future expenditures.

Participated as part of a global team in rendering legal advice to the Republic of Haiti with regard to aspects of asset recovery against the Duvalier regime.

Participated as part of a global team in rendering legal advice to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) in connection with claims of corruption and other wrongdoing connected to the previous president and administration in Guatemala.