(Lanka-e-News -04.Dec.2025, 11.10 PM) Sri Lanka has opened a new chapter in its pursuit of illicit foreign assets, with senior officials of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) expressing their readiness to provide the technical and specialist support required to recover wealth suspected to have been derived from criminal activity and held abroad.
This commitment—delivered through the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR)—was formally conveyed during a high-level discussion chaired Tuesday (02) by the Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney-at-Law Harsha Nanayakkara, at the Ministry of Justice.
Under the provisions of Sri Lanka’s Proceeds of Crime Act, the government is preparing to tighten mechanisms to trace, freeze, and repatriate overseas assets determined to have originated from corruption or other criminal conduct. To advance this process, the StAR Initiative has agreed to supply the necessary technical expertise and advisory support, enabling Sri Lankan authorities to initiate complex cross-border recovery procedures.
The collaborative effort is expected to benefit several key institutions engaged in anti-corruption and financial crime enforcement. These include the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Ministry of Justice, the Proceeds of Crime Division of the Sri Lanka Police, the Attorney General’s Department, the Police Department, and the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank. All of these agencies will receive structured assistance from the World Bank and UNODC experts operating under StAR.
Participants also discussed the establishment of a dedicated task force to streamline the recovery process and ensure compliance with international standards. StAR experts noted that their technical contribution already extends to legislative support for three key instruments: the Anti-Corruption Act, the Proceeds of Crime Act, and the Assets and Liabilities Act—all of which are central to Sri Lanka’s renewed anti-corruption framework.
Sri Lanka’s engagement with StAR aligns with global norms set out under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which encourages member states to cooperate in tracing and returning assets siphoned off through bribery, embezzlement, or other financial crimes. The StAR Initiative itself was founded by the World Bank and UNODC specifically to assist countries in overcoming the institutional, legal, and technical barriers that often impede international recovery efforts.
The discussions were attended by a panel of senior international and local officials. These included Laura Pop, Senior Economic Specialist of the StAR Initiative; Ayesha Jinasena PC, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice; High Court Judge Rangadissanayake, Director-General of CIABOC; Till Hartmann, World Bank specialist on public sector governance; StAR advisers Dmytro Kotlyar and Karen Greenaway; and several senior officials of the Ministry of Justice.
The meeting marks one of the most concrete steps taken to date to operationalise Sri Lanka’s asset recovery plans—an ambition long discussed but seldom implemented due to legal constraints and lack of international cooperation.
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by (2025-12-04 19:10:45)
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