Targeting the Global Movement of Corrupt Wealth

The project explored how international anti-money laundering frameworks are applied in Nigeria – identifying gaps and opportunities to strengthen global efforts to disrupt illicit financial flows.

Corruption remains a major barrier to economic development – eroding public trust, deterring investment, and weakening state institutions. While global anti-money laundering (AML) initiatives have prioritised transparency as a tool to disrupt illicit financial flows, significant challenges persist in how these frameworks are applied in practice.

This project examined how international AML standards and anti-corruption frameworks operated within the Nigerian context. It investigated how legal and financial systems were used to move and conceal the proceeds of corruption, and assessed where current regulations fell short. By identifying gaps in implementation and enforcement, the research provided evidence to help strengthen both national and global efforts to detect, prevent, and disrupt the laundering of corrupt wealth.

Key Findings

• Case Tracking and Data Transparency
  The research highlighted the need for a unique case identification system to link prosecutions and convictions to asset recovery. The existing system – where case numbers change as they move through different courts – created inefficiencies and hindered transparency. A unified case record would strengthen tracking and data integrity.
• Centralised Data Management
  Widespread inconsistencies and gaps in record-keeping underscored the urgent need for a centralised database, supported by inputs from sector-specific registries. The findings also pointed to the importance of recognising records management as a critical function within the civil service, requiring both professionalisation and resourcing.
• Improving AML/CFT
  The study identified weaknesses in the coordination of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts, particularly in relation to the FATF Recommendations 1 and 2. While task forces involving multiple agencies already existed, their effectiveness depended on maintaining smaller, focused groups with clear operational mandates. Collaboration needed to go beyond participation – it required active case management and shared accountability.

Impact and Implications

This project provided practical evidence to support Nigerian authorities and anti-corruption stakeholders in strengthening the country’s response to illicit financial flows. By examining real-world cases of grand corruption alongside broader financial flow data, the research revealed how corrupt funds were channelled through formal systems and how beneficial ownership was concealed.

The findings highlighted gaps in coordination between anti-corruption agencies and pointed to opportunities for streamlining responses and enhancing data transparency. The project offered a foundation for developing simpler, more cost-effective approaches to detecting, preventing, and recovering the proceeds of corruption.

While focused on Nigeria, the insights generated held broader relevance – offering transferable lessons for other developing countries working to close regulatory loopholes and strengthen enforcement of international anti-corruption frameworks.

Evidence of Impact:

• The research contributed to ongoing policy and practitioner conversations in Nigeria and the UK. A follow-on grant was secured to engage stakeholders in Abuja, including original project participants, to assess the practical uptake of recommendations. The team planned data collection, analysis, and a follow-up workshop scheduled before July 2024 to further explore the project’s influence.
• The team also conducted analysis of financial records related to the high-profile Ibori case, which had been presented in UK courts. These insights added to the project’s broader examination of how illicit funds move through legal and financial systems.
• Findings from the research were incorporated into a final version of the report Grand Corruption in Nigeria – What Can Be Learned from a Review of Cases, presented at the 21st Cross-Border Crime Colloquium hosted virtually by the Police University College in Norway.
• In the UK, the team submitted evidence to a parliamentary consultation on how the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) should consider corruption, security, and human rights risks when promoting investment abroad.

Additionally, the researchers provided expert peer review to Open Ownership for a commissioned report on beneficial ownership transparency in trust structures.