Crossing borders: ICAC Commissioner Dr Timothy Tong calls for international co-operation against corruption at a conference in Manila.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption will enhance co-operation with other jurisdictions to bring the corrupt to justice, its Commissioner Dr Timothy Tong says.

Addressing the Fifth China-ASEAN Prosecutors General Conference in Manila today, Dr Tong said unless agencies from different jurisdictions are genuinely committed, ready to co-operate fully and understand each others' situations, criminals can slip through the net of justice and escape capture.

He said corruption has become an increasingly complex crime and is invariably used to facilitate other serious issues like terrorist financing, drug and human trafficking, and money laundering which often cut across jurisdictions.

Investigations of transnational graft cases can be hindered due to differing legal systems, interpretations and ideologies, making international co-operation and mutual assistance more important.

He said the commission has implemented co-operative arrangements with partnering jurisdictions, which may involve the taking of statements, searching of premises and obtaining of evidence from banks and other financial institutions.

"The ICAC is prepared to go an extra mile through alternative procedures and special arrangements within our legal framework to track down transnational criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains."