Attacks on Public Funds... Government 'Accountability'

- Monitoring the value of misappropriated public funds and the amounts recovered

The Ministry of Justice continues its efforts to follow up on cases involving the misappropriation of public funds and to strengthen protective measures, by compiling and reviewing cases registered with various government entities and tracking the actions taken in each instance.

In this context, the Ministry of Justice recently conducted a comprehensive inventory of cases involving the misappropriation of public funds across various ministries, agencies, and government institutions, in preparation for submitting a comprehensive report to the Council of Ministers in October. The report will include detailed data on these cases and the measures taken regarding them.

The report will specify the number of cases in each ministry, agency, or government institution individually, along with the value of the misappropriated funds, the amounts recovered, and the outstanding balances. It will also cover cases being heard abroad and the actions taken in relation to them.

The preparation of the report implements Council of Ministers’ decisions requiring the submission of a report during the first week of October and April each year on cases involving the misappropriation of public funds. The Ministry of Justice will subsequently provide the Council of Ministers with periodic reports on its activities and the measures taken in this regard.

Recently, the Ministry of Justice addressed various government entities, requesting all data and information related to cases of misappropriation of public funds within those entities and their affiliated agencies and institutions. It also asked whether appeals had been filed against decisions to close cases, and if so, the outcomes of such appeals. In cases where no appeal was filed, the reasons for that were to be explained. Additionally, the Ministry requested an inventory of cases being heard abroad and details of the actions taken regarding them.

The Ministry emphasized the importance that the submitted data be accompanied by follow-up measures on all the aforementioned items, as well as the conclusions reached in each case, thereby enabling the preparation of a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the status of cases involving the misappropriation of public funds.

The Ministry’s requests also stipulated that cases with final judgments should not be included, as well as civil, administrative, and commercial cases. The inventory was to be limited to cases covered by the data request, in accordance with the specified guidelines.