ICC FraudNet is an international network of independent lawyers, who are leading civil asset recovery specialists in their country.
Our membership extends to every continent and the world’s major economies, as well as leading offshore wealth havens that have complex bank secrecy laws and institutions where the proceeds of fraud often are hidden.
Founded in 2004 by the Paris based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – the world’s business organisation, ICC FraudNet operates under the auspices of the ICC Commercial Crime Services unit, based in London.
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Key facts
The network was initiated by the International Chamber of Commerce because fraud and corruption are pervasive, complicated and invariably cross national boundaries.
FraudNet was founded in 2004 by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world’s business organization, and operates under the auspices of the ICC’s London-based Commercial Crime Services unit.
ICC CCS is the anti-crime arm of the International Chamber of Commerce. It is a membership organisation tasked with combating all forms of commercial crime. The specialist divisions that comprise CCS offer a range of services dedicated to meeting the individual needs of the members. Together, they tackle all types of commercial crime; fraud in international trade, insurance fraud, financial instrument fraud, money laundering, shipping fraud and product counterfeiting.
ICC FraudNet has been recognised by Chambers Global as the world’s leading asset recovery legal network.
ICC FraudNet members are leading practitioners in fraud and asset recovery and many are listed in The International Who’s Who of Asset Recovery Lawyers.
ICC FraudNet is proud to have strategic partners who are globally recognised and highly experienced in forensic accounting and investigations. We work as a team to maximize recoveries for victims.
ICC FraudNet combines the resources of a global network of experienced members and strategic partners to create a professional rapid deployment force to assist victims and provide accountability for recoveries.
ICC FraudNet’s focus is locating and recovering assets and proceeds of crime for victims of all types of fraud, including corruption, embezzlement and Ponzi schemes.
ICC FraudNet members have been retained around the world and have recovered billions of dollars for victims that include corporations, individuals, governments and state entities.
Membership is by invitation only, and only experts with a clear track record and significant experience are invited to join.
Money moves faster than victims can unless they have sophisticated assistance. Typically, victims do not know what to do, or whom they can turn to for help. Law enforcement agencies have scarce resources and are focused on punishing wrongdoers, not recovering assets for victims. As a result, criminal options are limited. This is where ICC FraudNet can help.
Our core values
Our core values form part of our philosophy and what our members pledge when they join the network
Collaborate and be inclusive
Aspire to continuously
learn and evolve
Share knowledge and skills
Empower each other to succeed
We Recover Funds For Victims
Using sophisticated investigation and forensic tools and cutting-edge civil procedures, ICC FraudNet members have recovered billions of dollars for victims of some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated global frauds involving insurance, bankruptcy & insolvency, commodities, banking and grand corruption.
Our members regularly act for government agencies and regulators in obtaining domestic and international recoveries for fraud victims.
Our members also pursue recoveries against financial institutions, professional advisors and other intermediaries involved in the fraud. We consider all available legal remedies to obtain compensation for our clients.
Our approach
An ICC FraudNet’s member will begin by assembling a strategic multidisciplinary transnational team from within the network that includes asset recovery lawyers, investigators and forensic accountants. This team promptly organises a forensic investigation and selects the optimum jurisdiction to commence court proceedings.
The ICC FraudNet team moves quickly and diligently, using specialised disclosure, gag and seal and investigative orders such as 28 USC 1782 and Anton Piller/Banker’s Trust orders. With their specialised arsenal of civil remedies, the team can force third-party financial institutions hiding assets to covertly disclose critical information, without tipping off targeted fraudsters. Other civil court orders grant the team authority to obtain documents and perform search and seizures to retrieve critical information for the investigation.
In jurisdictions where civil remedies do not exist, the ICC FraudNet team will collaborate with law enforcement to freeze local assets and track assets in other jurisdictions for use in civil or criminal proceedings. After successful investigation, the team freezes the target’s assets across the globe in multiple, simultaneous civil court actions.
The ICC FraudNet team then use injunctions or freeze orders to prevent fraudsters and their accomplices from selling or transferring assets before they can be liquidated to satisfy victims’ claims. The team also pursues replacement assets and compensation from financial institutions and other professionals who may be held liable for breach of fiduciary and other duties under the law. This can include civil remedies, suing for damages in criminal proceedings or a blend of the two.
Recovery
Efforts
With seamless global transfers of funds, fraudsters can instantaneously steal and hide liquid assets inside financial institutions across the globe. Teams of well-funded, professional criminals are aided and abetted by cyber stealth and bank secrecy laws. Time is of the essence when recovering assets.
Setting up an ad hoc international team of asset recovery professionals in many jurisdictions can be time-consuming, ineffective and costly. Furthermore, fraud victims will find that fraud is a low priority for law enforcement, whose focus is on criminal punishment but not on reparation for the fraud victim.
ICC FraudNet members can assist creditor-victims and estate fiduciaries (trustees, liquidators) with a growing number of litigation finance tools. Creative fee arrangements, including full and blended contingency arrangements and third-party financing, may be available to finance investigation and recovery efforts.
ICC FraudNet’s international reach transcends national boundaries. Members of respected law firms work together to pursue and recoup assets transferred across borders.
The dropdown below shows their collaborative efforts. For example, ICC FraudNet members from the British Virgin Islands, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Guatemala, Colombia and Switzerland collaborated on behalf of victims of the world’s second largest Ponzi scheme, the Stanford case. We bring to our clients and to law enforcement, the power of one global network. While the dropdown illustrates FraudNet’s reach, a long list of collaborative efforts have resulted in real world results in dozens of cases. Choose a country below to see how we collaborate.