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Developing countries lose an estimated US$20–40 billion each year through bribery, misappropriationof funds, and other corrupt practices. Often, the most visible manifestation ofcorruption is the enrichment of a corrupt public official. Despite such visibility, prosecuting corruptioncan be very problematic, particularly when it requires proving the offer or acceptance ofa bribe. Even when the corruption is established in a court of law, linking the proceeds of thecrime to the offense in order to recover assets is a complex endeavor.In response, some countries looking to strengthen their overall arsenal against corruption havecriminalized illicit enrichment. In its Article 20, the United Nations Convention against Corruption(UNCAC) recommends, but does not mandate, States Parties to adopt illicit enrichment as acriminal offense, defining the same as an intentional and “significant increase in the assets of apublic official that he or she cannot reasonably explain in relation to his or her lawful income.”The illicit enrichment offense has spurred significant debates involving due processes of law. Othersquestion how jurisdictions are actually using the offense. Finally, many jurisdictions that serveas financial centers do not recognize illicit enrichment as an offense, so tracing and recoveringassets through mutual legal assistance is further complicated in illicit enrichment prosecutions.Against this background, this study provides policy makers, prosecutors, and other practitionerswith a better understanding of the features of illicit enrichment. It draws on the preparatory workof international conventions, reviews of existing domestic provisions, and the jurisprudence onillicit enrichment. It is the StAR Initiative’s hope that the study will inform the work of decisionmakers considering adopting an illicit enrichment offense, and assist those implementing illicitenrichment to do so in a way that contributes to effective prosecution, confiscation, and assetrecovery.
