Abu Dhabi: The State Audit Institution (SAI), the UAE's anti-corruption watchdog, said yesterday it had started recovery of more than a billion dirhams from illicit financial flows involving misappropriation of public funds, forgery, fraud and bribery cases that took place in 2010. Dr Hareb Saeed Al Amimi, president of the institution, said 10 graft cases were reported to the public prosecutors over the last two years involving illicit financial flows of hundreds of millions of dirhams. The UAE, however, remains one of the most investment-friendly countries in the region, according to an anti-corruption watchdog survey published in December. The annual study from Transparency International, a Berlin-based monitoring organisation, awarded the UAE a score of 6.8 out of a possible 10 last year. The country ranked 28th among 183 countries in the annual CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index), not far behind the US at 24th position.