Parliament decided to create a criminal assets recovery agency. A bill to this effect was passed by the MPs in the first reading on December 15, IPN reports.

Democratic MP Sergiu Sarbu, one of the authors of the initiative, said an autonomous subdivision will be set up at the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) in a move to develop the capacities and instruments needed to recover unlawfully gained proceeds, especially within acts of corruption and money laundering. “We hope this mechanism will improve the fight against corruption and also the recovery of assets obtained by illegal means,” he stated.

The Socialist and Liberal-Democratic MPs asked about the meaning of such an agency when the mentioned powers belong to the NAC and bailiffs.

In this connection, NAC vice director Cristina Tarna explained that a bailiff cannot trace the proceeds of crime, especially if these are transferred abroad. International practice envisions the creation of such entities that include investigators whose duty is to determine how these assets were transformed and used by cooperating with counterparts from other countries.

The criminal assets recovery agency will be entitled to 3% of the value of the recovered proceeds.