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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a cooperation plan among the G-20 countries to efficiently and strongly menace fugitive economic offenders. The Nine Point Agenda focuses on strict and active cooperation in the legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime; early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined across the G-20 countries.
The agenda presented also presses on a joint effort by G-20 countries to restrict the entry and safe havens to all fugitive economic offenders through the form of proper mechanism. India made a stand to introduce FATF (Financial Action Task Force) into the mechanism to assign priority and focus on establishing international co-operation that leads to the timely and comprehensive exchange of information between the competent authorities and FIUs (Financial Intelligence Unit).
India’s Nine-Point Agenda suggested that the task of FATF should be to formulate a standard definition of fugitive economic offenders. FATF should also develop a set of commonly agreed and standardized procedures related to identification, extradition and judicial proceedings for dealing with fugitive economic offenders to provide guidance and assistance to G-20 countries which would be subject to the individual countries domestic law.
The agenda presented also calls for the implementation of Principles of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNOTC), to specifically ensure International Cooperation.
To the conclusion of the agenda, a common platform to enable better sharing of experiences and best practices the combines successful cases of extradition, gaps in existing systems of extradition and legal assistance, etc. is required to be established. G-20 Forum also needs to commit for the preparation of a systematic approach to formulate a plan to locate and recover properties of economic offenders who have a tax debt in the country of their residence.
