Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan State expects to recover in the next five years up to 50 billion dollars in assets and goods diverted abroad, in the context of the fight against corruption.
The information was released Wednesday (22), in Luanda, by the national director of Asset Recovery, Eduarda Rodrigues, during the seventh edition of Café CIPRA, which was attended by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Francisco Queiroz, and the inspector general of the State Administration, Sebastião Gunza.
The amount is equivalent to a third of the total amount subtracted from the State and the treasury, said Eduarda Rodrigues, noting that, based on the investigations, it can be concluded that more than US$100 billion left the country illegally.
“We are working to apprehend and seize the aforementioned heritage. Our greatest secret must be silence, so that the heritage does not evaporate”, he said.
He underlined that so far more than US$6 billion have been identified and seized abroad, including property and financial assets, which are awaiting an Angolan court decision for seizure.
“When we make estimates, it means that we have identified a lot of patrimony and money abroad. We are working in the context of requesting the seizures and seizures of patrimonial and financial assets, illegally transferred abroad”, declared Eduarda Rodrigues, recalling that there are specific legal procedures that must be followed.
Eduarda Rodrigues said that there are already “some final decisions”, but that they have not yet become final, due to the fact that the defendants have lodged appeals, which must be respected under the terms of the Constitution.
Information Sharing Agreements
Eduarda Rodrigues defended the establishment of information sharing agreements between the Angolan State and some strategic countries, with a view to the effective recovery of financial assets diverted abroad.
The national director of Asset Recovery pointed out that in the account of only one defendant, in a certain commercial bank, abroad, there is more than one billion dollars, hence the resistance of the authorities of certain countries to collaborate with the Angolan Government. in the recovery of such values, under the risk of causing a “leak” in the financial system of the same.
He underlined that the policy of the Angolan authorities to recover financial assets in certain countries has been to open bank accounts in them and transfer the values to Angola, through bank transactions.
In order to gain the support of these countries, within the scope of the “complex process” of repatriation, Eduarda Rodrigues also defended that Angola should work together with the countries to which the money was diverted and, above all, real estate, arguing that “the evidence of crime are here, but the money is there”.
Public Debates
The Minister of Justice and Human Rights spoke of the need to fight petty corruption in the State Administration, by massifying prevention campaigns, education, training and public debates.
Francisco Queiroz said that, due to the long period of corruption in the country, the phenomenon was rooted in the thinking and attitude of certain Angolan citizens. He pointed out, above all, the resistance in the fight against corruption abroad, where more than six billion dollars embezzled from Angolan coffers await repatriation.
The official said that the United Nations, at a conference that took place in South Africa, promised to help Angola to overcome external resistance, within the framework of the repatriation of money stolen from the state coffers.
The minister reinforced, however, that he was unaware of public investments in the country with the money taken illegally, stressing that if it happened “there will be illegality and fraud”.
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