Alex Ferguson is a lawyer with 22 years of experience in financial crime and asset recovery, both in the UK and overseas. He was a prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service for 19 years and latterly was an asset recovery lawyer based in the English Channel Islands.
During the period from 2012 to 2017, he was an asset recovery advisor to the Eastern Caribbean initially based within the British High Commission in Barbados and then from 2015 at the Regional Security System – Asset Recovery Unit.
Whilst in the Caribbean he drafted amendments to legislation for 11 jurisdictions along with guidance on investigating and recovering the proceeds of crime. Alex drafted a model Proceeds of Crime Act that can be used in any common law jurisdiction.
Successfully established an Asset Recovery Interagency Network in the Caribbean (ARIN-Carib), collaborating with international agencies.
Alex has assisted prosecutors from the UK, France and Spain with tracing, restraining assets and enforcing confiscation orders in the Caribbean. Drafted and delivered training on the financial investigation, money laundering, and asset recovery (both conviction and non-conviction) to representatives from 18 jurisdictions. Mentored law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary on asset recovery.
Whilst in the Channel Islands, Alex was responsible for recovering money linked to unlawful conduct in other jurisdictions, using non-conviction-based forfeiture. He successfully obtained international co-operation and the first freezing and forfeiture orders under the Forfeiture of Money in Civil Proceedings (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2007.
From January – October 2020, Alex was engaged by CARICOM IMPACS as an asset recovery consultant, part of the Capacity Development for the CARIFORUM Member States on Asset Recovery and Cybercrime – Technical Assistance to Establish Asset Recovery Units, through funding from the 11TH EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND.
Since July 2020 Alex worked as an international expert on a GIZ project – Inter-hub and Countries Financial Investigations Intervention – Developing capacity for effective financial investigation, prosecution and asset recovery linked to illicit financial flows in Albania, Ghana, Kosovo, Mauritius, North Macedonia and Peru. Alex has worked closely with stakeholders in Mauritius, delivering bespoke training, mentoring and producing specific reference material to assist practitioners in investigating, prosecuting and recovering the proceeds from acquisitive crime.
During November and December 2021, Alex worked with the Asset Recovery Investigation Division in Mauritius where he provided mentoring on live cases and drafted guidance on financial investigations and claims for confiscation and the civil recovery of the proceeds of crime
Alex has also worked with UNODC in Pakistan in assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with Hawala Banking.