Fruits of corruption worth US$5,6 million have been stripped from the dishonest this year alone by the High Court and handed over to the State, with applications for another US$20 million worth in progress, as the National Prosecuting Authority pushes hard to ensure that no one can benefit from crime and corruption.
Acting Prosecutor-General Mr Nelson Mutsonziwa said offences that had been subject of asset forfeiture included bribery, fraud and criminal abuse of office.
Under the system, regardless of whether there was proof beyond reasonable doubt needed for a criminal conviction, if it was probable that the assets were acquired with dirty money and no reasonable legal source of wealth could be shown, then the State can claim these assets in a civil suit.
Speaking last Friday during a collaborative launch of the #Knockout Corruption in the justice sector campaign by the National Prosecuting Authority and Transparency International Zimbabwe, Mr Mutsonziwa said: “This year alone, we have so far obtained forfeiture orders through the courts of properties worth US$5,6 million and currently there are pending matters involving properties worth US$20 million.
“In terms of the cases of asset recovery, all the cases have received active attention and most of them are pending before courts. For those cases which are pending we are in various stages of prosecution.
“It is our expectation that the identification of ill-gotten wealth that is subject to forfeiture will spread to all provinces as almost all of the mentioned cases are mainly from two of the 10 provinces.
“The cases initiated under the civil forfeiture procedure qualify to be described as grand corruption cases as each involves the forfeiture of property not less than US$100 000.”
Mr Mutsonziwa said the adoption of asset forfeiture based on civil law had enhanced the efforts of the National Prosecuting Authority and was bearing fruit as evidenced by reduction of crime dockets involving high profile corruption.
“The process is less cumbersome as compared to the criminal prosecution procedure which requires the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas the civil forfeiture procedure requires that the State proves on a balance of probability that the property in issue is proceeds of serious crime without also necessarily proving the crime committed.”
One major problem in most corruption related crime is that proof is difficult since so much is done in secret and without witnesses and preferably without any documentation.
But sudden gains in wealth with no apparent legal source cannot be hidden, and that gives the authority its lever.
The launch of the campaign came ahead of the international anti-corruption commemorations day with efforts to raise awareness towards the eradication of crime, corruption and other economic vices.
In a speech read on his behalf, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said asset forfeiture units established by Government that include NPA, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Zimbabwe Republic Police and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority had been helpful in eradicating crime and corruption.
“The result of collaboration between these entities has already started bearing fruit as is exemplified by the forfeiture orders coming from our courts,” he said. “I, therefore, wish to express my pleasure for the work being done by the NPA and its investigating partners in that regard.”
Most forfeiture orders obtained so far related to properties within Zimbabwe.
The fight against corruption, Minister Ziyambi said, was at the heart of economic development.
“As Government, we fully support such noble initiatives and are prepared to work with civil society organisations with genuine developmental intentions for our country,” he said. “The creation of anti-corruption courts is, therefore, testament of our intentions to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“I am happy that we are making use of these specialised courts as seen by the number of cases that have been completed and currently pending. More will certainly be achieved if you continue to work together.”
Transparency International Zimbabwe board chair Mrs Anesu Chirisa urged members of the public to contribute fully in the fight against corruption. – The Herald
