(3 minutes read)
- In a significant move, the French Senate decided the restitution of money embezzled by heads of state and their relatives back to their people by adopting the law on solidarity development
- The French Development Agency now has the mandate to redistribute ill-gotten money through NGOs by selling the assets seized by the French judiciary
- Proceeds of such assets would be returned, as close as possible, to the population of the foreign State concerned
In a significant move, the French Senate decided the restitution of money embezzled by heads of state and their relatives back to their people by adopting the law on solidarity development. The French Development Agency now has the mandate to redistribute ill-gotten money through NGOs by selling the assets seized by the French judiciary. These are the assets and public property misappropriated by foreign leaders or their relatives for personal use, such as luxurious real estate, cars, watches, bank accounts etc.
The judicial announcement states that the revenues from property confiscated from persons definitively convicted of money laundering receiving stolen goods. Proceeds of such assets would be returned, as close as possible, to the population of the foreign State concerned. It makes clear that such wealth will not be absorbed into the French State budget.
These returned funds should be managed by the African Development Bank. Once the goods are seized and sold, an escrow account should be opened at the AFDB. That body (AfDB) , in turn, should give an orientation for the management of these accounts to the NGOs.
The first such case is a from Equatorial Guinea. The ruling by the Court of Cassation on this issue is expected on July 28. If it confirms the conviction of Vice President Teodorin Obiang and the confiscation of his assets in France, it would be vested with the people. The son of the president of Equatorial Guinea was sentenced on appeal on February 10, 2020 to three years in prison with a suspended Euro 30 million in fines and confiscations. Several other countries could also benefit from the return of the money, including Gabon and Tunisia in Africa.
