Yesterday, the workshop on money laundering and beneficial ownership ended, a training activity given by German experts in which different entities of the Angolan judiciary participated, from police, ministerial and the Angolan Bar Association (OAA)
For three days (19, 20 and 21), Angolan technicians assigned to the PGR, UIF, MININT and OAA, addressed various topics linked to preventing and combating crimes of a financial nature.
The last day of training essentially covered “Crypto Assets (virtual), risks associated with money laundering when using them and regulation of the activity”.
The issue of International Judicial Cooperation in criminal matters was also addressed, particularly in the investigation of the crime of money laundering.
According to Jocelino Malulo, focal point of the Angolan Bar Association at UNODC, Angola has a legal void when it comes to virtual assets, with no legal regime for virtual asset service providers (VASPs – Virtual Assets Service Providers).
According to the lawyer, the country also does not have a law that defines the terms and conditions of access, use and transaction of these assets.
“Hence, we have seen some cases of arrests of individuals for mining cryptocurrency, however, the crime they have been accused of is energy theft, taking into account the high energy consumption that such an activity demands and the inconsistency between rate they pay and actual consumption”, he stated.
Therefore, he added that this approach cannot combat or attack the source of the basic problem, which is the total lack of control by competent authorities in relation to the same activity.
Unlike Angola, compared Jocelino Malulo, Germany has a set of declarative and contributory obligations in relation to those who carry out mining, with service providers having their own legal regime.
He also made it known that the lack of a legal framework in this sector was also the subject of comments by evaluators within the scope of the mutual evaluation of Angola, whose report was published last June on the FATF portal.
“And we know that the country has been working to quickly fill this legal void”, he asserted. International judicial cooperation As far as international judicial cooperation in criminal matters is concerned, like Germany, Angola has a legal framework in force, with very similar provisions, said Jocelino Malulo.
However, he explained that the biggest obstacles are issues related to bureaucracy arising from associated diplomatic procedures, a problem that is experienced all over the world.
In the workshop on money laundering and beneficial ownership, participants also had the opportunity to discuss the criminal liability of legal entities, an element that does not exist in Germany.
And, in this sense, he said Angola is much more advanced. “Since law no. 3/14, legal entities have been subject to criminal liability, despite this provision being better reinforced under the terms of the new Penal Code and the Law on preventing and combating money laundering”, he guaranteed.
Furthermore, in this regard, he mentioned that the German trainers at the workshop were very grateful for the Angolan contributions and took many “insights” to share with the legislative authorities of their country.
At the end, a ceremony to award the certificates was held, attended by the venerable Judge Counselor of the Supreme Court and focal point of that body at ONUDC, by the German Ambassador to Angola and by the ONUDC Counselor.
It should be noted that the workshop was a joint organization of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), Financial Information Unit (UIF) and the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with funding from the European Union (EU). workshop with 16 Angolan professionals, experts in money laundering, illicit financial flows and asset confiscation.
