Directorate seeks to preserve seized assets

Faced with criticism of letting assets seized from criminal proceedings to deteriorate, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) says it is devising ways to ensure that value is maintained amid prolonged court cases.

DPP Fostino Maele said in an interview in Salima on Tuesday that the authorities were considering reviving the Asset Forfeiture Unit to oversee valuation and maintenance of seized assets such as houses, motor vehicles as well as investing proceeds from sold assets in interest-earning accounts until cases are concluded.

Maele: We were very good

at seizing assets.| Nation

“We were very good at seizing assets or forfeiting assets, whether in civil or criminal proceedings, but we had problems in managing the assets that had been seized,” he said.

Maele was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day regional asset management workshop organised by his office and the International Centre for Asset Recovery (Icar).

He cited the house of former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo in Area 43, Lilongwe property vandalised after being seized by the State.

Maele said the High Court of Malawi ordered forfeiture of the property in March 2024 after Mphwiyo, who was answering Cashgate charges, jumped bail.

He also mentioned vehicles seized by law-enforcement agencies that have deteriorated at police stations.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango told the workshop that the Asset Forfeiture Unit was being revived and re-capacitated to make it fully staffed, resourced and operational.

He said asset management should start at the beginning of an investigation rather than after an asset had already been seized.

Icar head of Africa Simon Marsh said assets could remain under restraint for months, years or even decades before cases were concluded, making proper management critical.

Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau was presented as a mature model.

The workshop drew participants from Malawi, Ghana, Ireland, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zanzibar to share experiences on managing assets seized or restrained during criminal and civil proceedings

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