Former Zambian president Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba is famous for his clothes. The man once had 349 designer shirts, 206 jackets and suits, and 72 pairs of shoes (including "signature" ones with extra-high heels) — most bearing his FJT monogram and all seized as part of an investigation into corruption. Last month, he was found to have siphoned millions from state coffers while in office from 1991 to 2001, and his clothes were cited as "the most telling example of corruption" by the British High Court judge presiding over the case in London.
The story of Frederick Chiluba and his monogrammed designer clothes, in a country where most citizens live on less than $1 a day, played out as a lively scandal in the British media. After he refused Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's offer to be pardoned in exchange for a guilty plea and the return of most of the money, the Zambian government initiated a civil case against him in the United Kingdom, on the basis that the money he stole had passed through banks in London on its way offshore.
The case led prosecutors through Belgium, Britain, the U.S., South Africa and the Caribbean. As much as $40-million (U.S.) was discovered to have been diverted from the Ministry of Finance to an account at the London branch of the Zambia National Commercial Bank. The High Court judge found Mr. Chiluba guilty and ordered him to repay $39-million (U.S.) to the Zambian state.
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Yet, Mr. Chiluba's case is small potatoes as far as the proceeds of corruption go. The International Monetary Fund says as much as $1.8-trillion (U.S.) is laundered annually, much of it derived from corrupt practices. But it takes two to tango. Plundering government coffers won't get a corrupt government official far if banks are unwilling to take the money, and if countries deny safe haven. According to Nuhu Ribadu, head of Nigeria's economic and financial crimes commission, 80 per cent of the proceeds of corruption in Nigeria are taken overseas. Without the co-operation of the world's largest financial centres, attempts to regain assets lost to corruption in poor countries are doomed.
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Taking steps to prevent financial centres from accepting dirty money, making international wire transfers more transparent, closing loopholes for anonymous transfers to offshore centres, and returning stolen funds will free up capital for economic development and fighting poverty.
...Akere Muna is president of the Pan African Lawyers Union and vice-chair of Transparency International.
