Luanda - Angolan State has recovered around USD6 billion as part of the ongoing asset recovery process, both at home and abroad, the Deputy Attorney General Inocência Pinto said on Tuesday.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office magistrate also confirmed the seizure of around USD 21 billion from overseas.
The magistrate said that the Angolan State adopted a set of measures to combat cross-border economic and financial organised crime.
The measures, she said, include gathering evidence, breaking professional secrecy and confiscating assets in favour of the State.
Speaking at Workshop on Seizure and Management of Confiscated Assets, Inocência Pinto hailed the results, adding that the move encourages Angola to carry on the actions aimed at preventing and repressing bad practices in the management of the public purse.
The magistrate said it was a challenge to discuss the model adopted by Angola, known as the traditional or diffuse model, which gives priority to the creation of a trustee.
According to the magistrate, the National Asset Recovery Service has been working with several competent institutions for managing recovered assets, such as the General Treasury of Justice, the National Institute for State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE).
In turn, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Manuela Carneiro, hailed the cooperation of the European Union (EU) in Angola in terms of support and fund the project and the continued effort to fight money laundering and organised crime in the country.
She stressed the commitment of the Italian Embassy and Government to agreed to support and strengthen bilateral cooperation, at the request of the OPG, as well as the facilitation and organisation of this event, which will allow the sharing of knowledge and experience between experts from both countries.
Whereas, Paulo Barroso Simões, representative of the EU, stressed that international institutions were increasingly aware of the situation in each country and efforts are being made to effectively combat organised crime.
He said that Angola and the EU had made strategic international political commitments, with a view to promoting sustainable policies, "and it is up to us, to implement them concretely.
The official noted that with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), "we intend to bring to the beneficiary services expertise of the highest level, in order to share the most recent and effective capacities available".
Gabriel Magnini, representative of the Italian Embassy in Angola, noted that the event testifies, once again, the commitment of the Angolan authorities in the fight against corruption and illicit financial flows.
