Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan State has recovered, in the national territory and abroad, around US$6 billion, as part of the asset recovery process, revealed this Tuesday, the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Inocência Pinto.
The public prosecutor, who was speaking at the Workshop on Confiscation and Administration of Confiscated Assets, organized within the scope of the PRO-REACT Project (Supporting the Supply of the National System for Confiscation of Assets), also confirmed the seizure of around 21,000 million US dollars abroad.
He made it known that the Angolan State had created a set of measures to combat transnational economic and financial organized crime, focusing on the collection of evidence, the breach of professional secrecy and the loss of assets in favor of the State.
He considered positive the results achieved in this sense, which, in his view, constitute a lever towards the continuity of actions aimed at preventing and repressing bad practices in the management of the treasury.
“The asset recovery process presents us all with a challenge and at the same time an opportunity”, he stressed.
The magistrate said that the discussion on the model adopted by Angola, called the traditional or diffuse model, which gives primacy to the constitution of a trustee, is a challenge.
He considered this to be the best, “given our reality and, at the same time, an opportunity in that it is always possible to make the necessary changes to the seized assets, to ensure that they do not deteriorate while waiting for a court decision”.
In practice, he said, the National Asset Recovery Service has relied on the collaboration of several institutions which, without prejudice to other attributions, also have competence for managing recovered assets, namely the General Coffer of Justice, the National Institute of Assets and State Participations (IGAPE).
Inocência Pinto said that there is no entity in Angola with exclusive competence for the management of assets.
For him, the great challenge is to find good practices in the management of confiscated assets, “under penalty of being degraded, creating, if necessary, a “task force” or a specific management structure dedicated to the valuation of assets”.
This management structure, he maintained, could be accompanied by an audit committee and by members of civil society, who would be in charge of ensuring good accounting practices and defending the common interest.
On her turn, the representative of the United Nations Offices on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Manuela Carneiro, expressed her satisfaction with the fact that the European Union (EU) in Angola has supported and financed this project and the continuous effort to combat money laundering of capital and organized crime in the country.
He also recognized the commitment of the embassy and the government of Italy, which promptly agreed to support and reinforce bilateral cooperation, at the request of the PGR, as well as in facilitating and organizing this event, which will allow the sharing of knowledge and experience between specialists from both countries.
Manuela Carneiro considered that the discussions around the confiscation of assets and the administration of confiscated assets are important, as they allow understanding the related challenges and the good practices adopted by different countries, to face financial crime and organized crime.
In turn, Paulo Barroso Simões, representing the EU, underlined that international institutions are increasingly attentive to the situation in each country and the efforts being made to effectively combat organized crime.
He made it known that Angola and the EU have assumed strategic international political commitments, with a view to promoting sustainable policies “and it is up to us, as executors, to materialize them in concrete”.
He added that, with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “we intend to bring the highest level skills to the beneficiary services, with a view to sharing the most recent and effective skills available”.
Gabriel Magnini, representative of the Italian embassy in Angola, noted that the event once again testifies to the commitment of the Angolan authorities in the fight against corruption and illicit financial flows.
He assured that Italy is committed, both nationally and internationally, to promoting actions to combat corruption, organized crime and money laundering and is working towards the creation of a global framework for asset recovery, counting on the experience gained over the years in combating the mafia phenomenon.
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