BRICS weighs law-enforcement network to track economic fugitives

India is set to seek greater cooperation among BRICS countries for faster tracking and extradition of economic fugitives at the forthcoming leaders’ summit, building on an in-principle agreement reached by the bloc’s anti-corruption officials last month to establish a network of law-enforcement practitioners, sources said.

The proposed mechanism is intended to facilitate quicker, informal exchanges between investigators, helping authorities trace fugitives and identify illicit assets across borders. “The issue could feature in the BRICS leaders’ discussions in New Delhi on September 12-13, as India seeks to turn the grouping’s anti-corruption cooperation into more practical enforcement mechanisms.

The proposed BRICS Network of Law-Enforcement Practitioners would complement, rather than replace, formal extradition and mutual legal assistance processes by creating direct channels for officials to exchange information at an early stage of investigations,” a source told businessline.

The proposal was discussed at the second meeting of the BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group and the BRICS Expert Network on Asset Recovery in Hyderabad last month. It was hosted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Members reached an in-principle agreement on the network and agreed to continue discussions on its establishment and operational modalities. They also welcomed a BRICS Repository on Informal Cooperation that would compile national practices and existing channels for tracing fugitives and supporting extradition.

“For India, the initiative has particular significance given its longstanding concerns over economic offenders who leave the country after allegedly committing financial crimes,” the source noted. The eleven-member BRICS bloc includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and new members Iran, the UAE, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia.

A parallel initiative could make the exchange of information on stolen assets more systematic. The Expert Network on Asset Recovery reached consensus on standardised formats for timely practitioner-level information exchange during the preliminary stages of investigations.

Members also welcomed a directory of focal points and experts to facilitate direct contact between competent authorities. The measures are particularly relevant for cases involving offenders who move across jurisdictions to avoid prosecution or extradition, as well as the movement and concealment of illicit funds, the source said.

The government has stressed the need to prevent BRICS jurisdictions from becoming safe havens for such offenders and to strengthen cooperation in tracing fugitives, recovering assets and closing loopholes that facilitate cross-border movement of illicit funds.

“The proposed network could therefore give BRICS countries a practitioner-level layer of cooperation before formal legal processes are triggered, potentially helping authorities establish the whereabouts of a fugitive, verify information and identify assets more quickly,” the source said.