32. Robert Manzanares on leading the Obiang investigation, asset recovery & a Michael Jackson glove

Best known for being the lead investigator in the Obiang case, we welcome law enforcement professional Robert Manzanares, who is also the co-founder of Gatekeeper Consulting (https://gatekeeperci.com/) . Robert outlines how he started off as a probation officer and eventually became the lead investigator of the famous Obiang case. Find out the unexpected role that Michael Jackson memorabilia played in the case. Also, once on the case one article gave Robert extra motivation to successfully close the case (see Foreign policy article). The two also discuss why should American law enforcement officers should actually take action in investigating such cases of kleptocracy abroad and how other states reacted to the US efforts to seize kleptocrat’s assets. Robert outlines in detail the important roles that facilitators played in the case and how it enrages him that none were indicted. The two also discuss the challenging question what should actually happen with the stolen assets? References: The article that Robert mentioned, that served as special motivation to pursue the case: https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/04/07/how-many-investigators-does-it-take-to-catch-a-kleptocrat/ NYT article outlining the Obiang case: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/world/africa/teodoro-nguema-obiang-mangue-guinea-looting-trial.html UNODC and World Bank repository on stolen asset recovery https://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/assetrecovery/obiang?term=obiang