Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican state recovered last year about a billion meticais (16 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) from assets that criminals had acquired by illicit means, according to figures announced on Monday at a seminar in Maputo on confiscation and the recovery of assets.
The Central Office for the Recovery of Assets said the figure of a billion meticais covers the seizure of buildings, vehicles and other assets, as well as of cash, which had been obtained by criminal means.
Identifying and recovering these assets, before the criminals involved have been sentenced, remains a challenge for the bodies of the administration of justice who are calling for a strengthening of the rules on confiscation, in order to avoid the accumulation of wealth by illicit means.
“We want to prevent a situation whereby criminals are punished, but the assets remain in the hands of the criminals”, Justice Minister Helena Kida told the meeting. “What we want now is to create mechanisms so that those who have made illicit gains cannot keep possession of wealth obtained through crime”.
The Deputy Attorney-General, Alberto Paulo, added that “depriving criminals of income from their criminal activities is one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against crime. It dissuades the criminals from committing crimes, and also prevents the unfair competition that results from the introduction of illegally obtained profits into the legal economy”.
Confiscation of assets, even before a court has passed sentence, was “an important tool”. Paulo added, which could strike a blow against organised and transnational crime.
The two day seminar brings together the Mozambican bodies of justice and international experts to discuss strategies for the application of laws on the recovery of assets.
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