Ver Angola

Defense

BNA sent the inspection result to the commercial bank involved in Operation Crab to the PGR

The governor of Banco Nacional de Angola said that the regulatory body had already completed the inspection of the commercial bank involved in Operation Crab and that the result was sent to the Attorney General's Office (PGR).

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José de Lima Massano was speaking, in Luanda, at a press conference regarding the fifth evaluation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the Expanded Assistance (EFF) program.

Operation Crab involves several officers of the Angolan Armed Forces assigned to the House of Security of the President of the Republic, in alleged crimes of embezzlement, withholding currency, criminal association and others, having been seized monetary values ​​stored in boxes and suitcases, in the order of millions , in US Dollars, Euros and Kwanzas.

The case raised the alarm in financial institutions as volumes of banknotes with seals from the National Bank of Angola (BNA), the entity responsible for issuing kwanza notes and coins in the country and which controls the currency in circulation, were seized.

Shortly after the scandal became public, the BNA made it known that the amounts in question were raised by a commercial bank, complying with the rules and protocols in force for the purpose, without disclosing the name of the institution.

Lima Massano considered that, in view of the reported situation, the authorities reacted promptly, which represents "some confidence".

"In the case of the BNA, we carried out two immediate inspections: one, to the BNA itself to find out if those values, the boxes that were publicly presented, had been illicitly removed and this was not the case. An inspection was also carried out at the commercial bank that received these volumes, a work already completed and, at this moment, in possession of the PGR, this because it is part of a criminal investigation action", explained Massano, adding that it is necessary to "wait for the competent bodies to do their work".

As for foreign currency, the BNA also wanted to know how it would have been possible, allegedly, for a citizen to send abroad around one billion dollars.

"What I can share is that, so far, from the work carried out, we have no evidence in this regard. What we can see is that, in general, the transfer limits, in the financial system, have been observed", continued Lima Massano, noting that many of these values ​​were found in a home, outside the financial system.

"If it were that easy, maybe they would be in the financial system, bleached. For some reason, it didn't happen," he stressed, considering that the swift and responsible way of acting "has to give confidence to citizens" and "partners international".

Lima Massano also revealed that, at the end of last year, the BNA carried out an inspection on compliance with rules for preventing and combating money laundering, having concluded that, in general, "the banks are in a situation of compliance".

In cases where deficiencies were detected, corrective actions and a mitigation plan, approved by the BNA, were adopted for each of the banks in this condition, with the most serious situations being subject to penalties and contravention proceedings.

In the same sense were the statements made by the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, Manuel Nunes Júnior, for whom the scandal involving the men of the President's House of Security led to the dismissal of the Minister of State and head of that body, Pedro Sebastião , made it clear that "the law is the same for everyone".

"All that has been done in Angola since 2017 is precisely to show and make it clear that the law is equal for everyone and whoever transgresses the law must face the consequences", he stressed.

For the minister, "this is fundamental for the economy to function correctly and for national and foreign investors to invest in safety", and it is also fundamental for improving the business environment.

"The business environment cannot improve as long as there is a feeling that there is impunity, there are people who commit infractions but are not affected, there cannot be these kinds of feelings," he stressed.

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