The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Beatriz Buchili, on Tuesday defended the recovery of assets resulting from criminal activities, pointing to the need for cooperation between the institutions that fight economic and financial crimes.

Speaking during the investiture of Ana Sheila Dias Marrengula as director of the Central Asset Recovery Office (GCRA), Buchili said that "in crimes of this nature, justice does not materialize as long as the advantages of the illegal activity remain in the possession of the criminals, which is why it is essential to strip them of all the proceeds resulting from the crime".

"The transnational nature of economic and financial crime requires the GCRA to be flexible in legal and judicial cooperation with its international counterparts," said the Attorney General, quoted by Rádio Moçambique.

In this sense, she continued, it is important to "continue the process of structuring and developing the office, not only by strengthening the links between the GCRA and the various institutions that are relevant to its work, especially the judicial authorities and the Asset Management Office, in order to effectively recover and reimburse the state," she stressed.

The attorney-general pointed to greater training and capacity-building for the institution's staff, with a view to making their work more effective.

The new director of the GCRA has spent 17 years in the Public Prosecutor's Office and stood out as the representative of the state prosecution in the main case of the so-called hidden debts, which are said to have damaged the Mozambican state by around 2.7 billion dollars, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office indictment.