On behalf of the Government of Maldives, Ministry of Finance and Treasury has initiated an engagement with Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR), jointly conducted by the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to return embezzled state funds and ill-gotten gains through graft and corruption by state officials that are laundered abroad.
The Government is committed to identify and recover state assets through corruption and return it to the rightful recipients of these funds, who are the citizens of the Maldives and established the State Asset Recovery Commission, according to a statement released by Finance Ministry. By January 2018, State Asset Recovery Commission has been able to ascertain that USD 1.4 billion have been stolen or misused from the state.
The government is committed to strengthen the legal framework to hinder the theft and laundering of assets, as well as strengthen the state capacity to investigate and recover assets, according to Finance Ministry. The Government hopes to strengthen dialogue with international community through the initiative, said the Ministry.
The StAR initiative by World Bank and UNODC is aimed to assist state asset recovery by acting as a facilitator in international cooperation to enable a timely return of stolen assets. StAR provides platforms for dialogue and collaboration and facilitates contact among different jurisdictions involved in asset recovery. Furthermore, StAR assist countries in developing legal frameworks, institutional expertise, and the skills necessary to trace and return stolen assets.