Compensation for overseas victims of corruption

In this podcast, Tim Harris, Podcast Officer on the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee and financial crime lawyer at Cohen & Gresser, speaks to Lord Edward Garnier KC, barrister and member of the House of Lords, and Nicola Bonucci, criminal lawyer and former Director of Legal Affairs at the OECD, on the subject of the current approach in the UK and Europe to compensation for overseas victims of economic crime.

This podcast was recorded in January 2024.

SFO comment

In relation to the issues discussed in this podcast, a spokesperson for the SFO told Global Insight that ‘seeking justice for victims is at the heart of what we do and, subject to UK law, we will always compensate victims of corruption, whether they are based here or abroad.’

In regards to compensation in the UK criminal justice system, the SFO explains that current UK law requires an overseas country to meet three criteria to be eligible for compensation: firstly, that the victims are identifiable; secondly, that their loss must result directly from the offence; and lastly, that their loss can be quantified. The spokesperson highlighted that in two recent cases, the SFO obtained and returned £200,000 in compensation to Nigeria and $7m in compensation to the Tanzanian Central Bank, respectively. In both instances all three criteria for compensation were met, as there were identifiable and quantifiable losses to the states involved.

DPAs in the UK must be approved by a judge. In the Airbus DPA, the President of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court, Dame Victoria Sharp, determined that there was no eligibility of victims to compensation through the criminal court, principally because it was not possible to identify a quantifiable loss to victims arising from the payment of bribes.

In terms of proceeds of crime, the spokesperson highlighted that the SFO’s Proceeds of Crime Division confiscated over £95 million in proceeds of crime in 2022-23 – more than every other UK authority combined. The SFO says it continues to hunt for criminal assets long after a conviction has been secured. After prosecuting the fraudster Achilleas Kallakis in 2013, for instance, it confiscated a further £340,000 from him in March and November 2023.