Federico Paesano (Senior Asset recovery Specialist – Basel Institute of Governance)

Federico Paesano, holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Università degli studi del Molise in Campobasso (Italy). For fourteen years, he worked for the Italian Financial Police, mainly in the position of Station Commander, leading and conducting judicial and financial investigations, focusing in particular on economic crimes such as corruption, bribery, money laundering. in July 2009, he was seconded for one year by the Italian Government to the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) as Mentor to the Minister of Interior on Anticorruption: as part of a group of experts, he provided technical advice on transparency and accountability measures to the Minister of Interior as well as advice on the development of national and sector policies, collaborating closely with the AGO, the High Office of Oversight, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and other external partners. Federico graduated in 1998 from the Military Academy of the Guardia di Finanza in L'Aquila (Italy) and holds the degree of Abroad Operations Expert, focusing on subjects such as conflicts and nation building, geopolitics and strategic studies, peace support operations, international humanitarian law and advanced military training in hostile environments. Federico joined the International Centre for Asset Recovery as Asset Recovery Specialist, delivering technical training programmes on financial investigations and asset recovery in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Peter Huppertz (E-Learning and IT Specialist - Basel Institute of Governance)

Peter Huppertz graduated from the University of Applied Science, Mittweida with a Diploma in Media Technology (2003). Working at the University of Education in Freiburg he took part in the post graduate course Educational Media provided by the University Duisburg-Essen and finished with a Master of Arts in Educational Media. Prior to joining the ICAR Peter was working as a Research Assistant at the University of Education in Freiburg. There he conducted training courses on creating and using media in educational scenarios, developed software environments to support learning and worked on a research project involving the use of interactive video for teacher trainings. During his studies Peter worked for several IT companies, advertising agencies and movie post production companies. At the ICAR Peter is responsible for designing and developing e-learning solutions to enhance ICAR's asset recovery training and assistance programs. He works in close cooperation with training experts and governance advisors to meet the learning needs and challenges for a variety of audiences ranging from developing country law enforcement officials to corporate compliance departments and knowledge management authorities. Peter has also been developing the user interface for the website of the ICAR's Knowledge Centre on Asset Recovery as well as e-learning modules for the asset recovery training and assistance programs. Furthermore he created the necessary infrastructure required to operate and manage the institute's websites. More recently, Peter has also been responsible for developing the Asset Recovery Experts Network, a web-based social network for participants of the ICAR's trainings.

The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent not-for-profit competence centre specialized in corruption prevention and public governance, corporate governance and compliance, anti-money laundering, criminal law enforcement and the recovery of stolen assets. Based in Switzerland, the Institute's multidisciplinary and international team works around the world with public and private organizations towards its mission of tangibly improving the quality of governance globally, in line with relevant international standards and good practices. The Institute is composed of four divisions, the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR), the division for Public Governance, the division for Corporate Governance and Compliance, and the International Centre for Collective Action (ICCA). www.baselgovernance.org

Russ Harding
Detective Senior Inspector, Financial Investigation Division, Hong Kong Police Detective Senior Inspector Russ Harding has been a Police Officer since 1981, has served in the Criminal Investigation Department of the Hong Kong Police Force since 1983, and has experience in investigating all the major areas of organized crime, including armed robbery, murder, rape, kidnapping, and arson. Mr. Harding has served in the Regional Crime Unit, Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Bureau and Organized Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police. Since 1995 Mr. Harding has specialized in investigating financial crime, money laundering and the proceeds of crime. He has been the lead investigator in some of Hong Kong's largest and most complicated money laundering prosecutions. Mr. Harding is widely recognized both in Hong Kong and overseas for his expertise in the investigation of money laundering and related crime. He is frequently approached for advice on the subject, and has extensive experience as a speaker about and testifying in court on money laundering and related matters. He has additionally been involved in country inspections for the Financial Action Task Force.


Raymond So
Currently heads Investigation Branch 1 of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption, and is responsible for the investigation of public sector corruption and election cases. He has been with the ICAC for thirty-six years, having joined as an Investigator in the fall of 1976. He achieved the rank of Chief Investigator in 1985, and was promoted to Principal Investigator in 2005 and Assistant Director in 2011. Mr So was conferred a Master of Social Sciences Degree in Criminology by the University of Hong Kong in 1988. He attended the Stanford Executive Program of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in summer 2006, and the Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar organized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June 2011. In October 2009, Mr So was awarded the Hong Kong ICAC Medal for Meritorious Service by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.


Elizabeth Aloi
Currently Trial Attorney, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, Criminal Division, United States Department of Justice She is responsible for investigating and prosecuting money laundering and corruption offenses involving foreign public officials as part of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Lead counsel on international, multijurisdictional criminal and civil investigations. Ms. Aloi Initiated the first civil forfeiture action against corruption proceeds located in Afghanistan. She represents the United States in multilateral asset recovery meetings and participate in staff interagency Reentry Council working group. Before her current position, she was Senior Counsel of the United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary advising Chairman Leahy on criminal justice matters, including but not limited to, fraud, corruption, money laundering, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, asset forfeiture, drug and sentencing policy.

Guillermo Jorge
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Colin Ehren
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