Mozambique: Government intends to formalise almost 190,000 traders
File photo: PGR
Contracts entered into with the state worth more than 600 minimum civil service salaries are now subject to direct supervision by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which, under its new Organic Law, can now also file lawsuits for tax and financial offences.
According to Attorney General Beatriz Buchili, this represents an improvement in the fight against economic and financial crimes.
Speaking at the 11th Coordinating Council of her institution, Buchili said that, faced with this type of crime, the prosecutor should not be limited to clarifying offences, but should be able to recover assets acquired fraudulently.
“We want to strengthen our ability to detect funds and assets resulting from criminal activities, such as smuggling and misappropriation, which are then laundered,” Buchili said.
In pursuit of its objectives, the Attorney General’s office will cooperate with the Bank of Mozambique, the Tax Authority, commercial banks and other economic and financial entities.
Buchili said that, although the country does not yet have a law regulating the recovery of assets, there is no reason why the Public Prosecutor’s Office should not use other legal instruments strip perpetrators of the proceeds of crime, and compensate the state and society for the offence suffered.
Buchili added that economic, financial and environmental crimes, although not immediately felt by each citizen, have a detrimental effect on society as a whole, affecting future generations as they do.
Beatriz Buchili urged the Central Office to Combat Corruption (GCCC) to adopt a more flexible and less bureaucratic approach, focusing on prevention and investigation, to combat these evils.
The 11th Coordinating Council of the Attorney General’s Office ends this afternoon in Maputo.
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