There must be transparency and accountability in the recovery and management of Looted Assets by the government.
The government needs to set up guidelines and detailed procedures to ensure the transparent use in the `recovery of Looted assets’.
Assets that can be qualified as ‘looted’, meaning public assets that have been embezzled, or misappropriated through acts of corruption, such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions, and illicit enrichment or otherwise diverted by a public official.
The management of Looted Assets returned involves ensuring that the returned funds and assets can be traced and monitored, in accordance with the sound management of public finances.
Yes, addressing the problem of Looted assets is an immense challenge.
Already the country is encountering serious obstacles in the recovery of the 1MDB assets, both from the individuals and institutions that participated in the theft.
Even when there is the political will to pursue it, limited legal, investigative and judicial resources and inadequate financial resources could hamper the process.
Jurisdictions where stolen assets are hidden, often in developed countries, may not be responsive to requests for legal assistance.
With the authorities now actively pursuing long-standing alleged disputed assets associated with corrupt practices committed almost 30 years ago, the ordinary rakyat is wondering how transparent is the process of recoveries and how the resources if recovered, will end up.
Where would the repatriated assets go to?
Who would be responsible for managing and deciding on the use of the repatriated assets?
Can these repatriated assets be used to supplement the national annual budget?
What were the costs involved?
Cost-wise, it cannot be an exercise of no limits if the chances of recovery are limited legally.
PM10, you need to demonstrate how assets recovered from corrupt practices in the country can be used to improve the living conditions of millions of ordinary Malaysians.
From an accountability perspective, the direct return of assets to the central budget is undesirable as the current mechanisms in place for the administration of public finances do not allow for the assets to be tracked.
More desirable alternatives would be for the Looted Assets to be directed to a dedicated government fund subject to special financial management procedures, or receipt by a third party, such as a non-governmental organization.
The government should make available detailed information about all the Looted Assets returned including the publication of the agreements or otherwise that form the basis whether legal or political for the return of assets on a public website.
This will foster transparency by helping to keep the ordinary rakyat informed about the recovery process of the Looted Assets and possibly serve as a deterrent for future leaders in this country.
You and the government you are leading now have a duty to use the Looted Assets returned for the benefit of the public and promotion of the rule of law and substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms.
FLK is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.