A Kent international commercial law expert Dr Gbenga Oduntan has organised a series of training conferences in Nigeria on tracing funds transferred as a result of corrupt practices.

The first two-day conference takes place in Lagos on 20/21 November with a second two-day conference following in Abuja on 23/24 November. Each event is targeted at anti-corruption activists, media practitioners, compliance officers, anti-corruption agencies, opinion leaders, bloggers, lawyers and legal advisers.

With the first day entitled Tracking Noxious Funds: Strategies and techniques for whistle blowing and tracing property purchased and the second day entitled Investments from Proceeds of Bribery and Corruption Transferred to the West and Tax Havens, the training offers a practical, doctrinal and procedural introduction to researching company and property ownership using public sources of information. Conference attendees will also learn how to find shell companies and their property and how to identify online resources and sources of information. The training includes practical sessions that will enable participants to conduct their own searches under the supervision of expert facilitators from Europe, the US and Nigeria.

Dr Oduntan was awarded a grant of $50,000 for the training project by the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of International Education after running a successful one-day conference at Kent Law School in July.

Dr Oduntan said: It has become clear over the last few decades last that the phenomenon of bribery, corruption and stolen funds is one of the principal causes of underdevelopment in the global south. The stolen wealth of Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries has not only found safe haven in the banks and financial institutions of the UK and other western countries but has become a major source of the funds for the purchase of UK properties contributing to housing shortages in London