Jonathan Benton is the Founder and Chief Executive of Intelligent Sanctuary, a technology company developing advanced capabilities to prevent the dispersion of illicit assets and strengthen the tracing and recovery of stolen wealth.
He led the development of unique blockchain attribution technology that achieved a world-first application before the High Court of Singapore, enabling the identification and freezing of illicit digital assets. The technology has also been applied in proceedings before the High Court in the United Kingdom to identify previously hidden end-users behind crypto wallets, a significant step forward in exposing actors operating within the opaque world of digital asset networks.
A former senior United Kingdom law enforcement leader with more than 30 years' experience, Jonathan built and led the UK's national response to international corruption outside the Serious Fraud Office. His work included leading complex international corruption investigations and serving as a Senior Investigating Officer.
He also designed the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre, strengthening global cooperation on grand corruption and asset recovery.
Jonathan is a Board Adviser to Spotlight on Corruption, an NGO examining the enforcement of UK anti-corruption laws. He previously served as Board Adviser and Financial Crime Subject Matter Expert to Nationwide Building Society, advising its Chairperson and Board on financial crime governance, sanctions exposure and regulatory risk.
He holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of Hertfordshire and an MA in Corruption and Governance Studies from the University of Sussex. His postgraduate research examined public corruption in Tunisia and the effectiveness of governance measures.
Jonathan has advised and mentored heads of anti-corruption agencies, Attorneys General, Directors of Public Prosecutions and senior prosecutors across the globe on governance, anti-corruption enforcement and asset recovery. His international policy and diplomatic work includes serving as a technical expert to the G7/G8 anti-corruption team, advising senior ministers and officials on beneficial ownership and its use in crime, and representing the UK Government in ministerial-level diplomatic negotiations. He also delivered the closing address at the G20 anti-corruption NGO conference alongside Sir Mark Moody-Stuart and Sir Vince Cable.