KATHMANDU, JUNE 29
The newly established Department of Management of Proceeds Crime under the Ministry of Home Affairs has said it has a number of problems in the implementation of activities assigned to it by the law.
The DMPC is obliged to perform its duties and responsibilities in line with the Offence-related Assets and Goods (Withholding, Control, and Confiscation) Regulation. It has been mandated to seize goods and assets involving criminal offence as per the court order.
According to a recent report published by the DMPC, there is lack of effective coordination and collaboration with this Department and district administration office. It also lamented that the issues of this Department were not adequately included in the annual policies and programmes for the running fiscal 2023-24.
"There is also lack of spacious warehouses for safe storage of offence-related assets and goods confiscated by the government as per the court order," the report said.
Nepal Police or constitutional bodies, on behalf of the DMPC, may interrogate the relevant person or carry out raids in suspicious places if there is reasonable ground to believe that the assets and goods possessed from criminal offence are concealed there.
If any goods or assets are found during the investigation or raid, the investigation officer will confirm whether they are related to the offence or not based on the records maintained in government agencies and source of income of the concerned person.
In a case where the goods or assets are found to be obtained by committing an offence, the investigation officer will have to initiate the process of withholding or taking control of them so that they cannot be transferred to others.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 30, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
