The National Anticorruption Center (NAC) proposes creating a service for recovering criminal assets. According to the Center, such an institution is needed in Moldova because, even if all the investigating authorities have powers to identify, sequestrate and confiscate property acquired by criminal means, these focus on the holding of offenders accountable rather than on the tracking of assets for confiscating these or for compensating the victims, IPN reports.
The relevant draft law was presented in the October 13 parliamentary hearings centering on the justice sector reform. NAC vice director Cristina Tarna said it is very important to take measures not only to hold the offenders accountable, but to also identity the criminal assets and to confiscate these.
The service for recovering criminal assets will have the status of autonomous subdivision within the National Antiproton Center. Among its duties will be to conduct parallel financial investigations and to assess and manage criminal assets, to negotiate and repatriate the value of criminal assets in cooperation with the similar authorities of other countries.
According to the authors, the drafting of the bill was preceded by an analytical study conducted by the Basel Institute on Governance at the request of the UNDP. The study recommends setting up an office for recovering assets and applying financial investigation techniques.
