The President of the Central Authority for Financial Supervision, Muhammad Baraq, told Al-Watan that 13.15 billion Syrian pounds, as well as 425,370 euro and 455,170 dollars had been discovered for the year 2019 and were requested to be recovered from authorities in the economic and administrative sectors for the benefit of the public treasury.
He added that 5.4 billion pounds of that sum was due to corruption as a result of irregularities that had been discovered, including embezzlement, forgery and defects, leading to damages to public money. The remainder of the discovered sum was due to investigative issues in which a defect or error was observed and corrected, after which administrative penalties were requested against the violators, without referral to court.
He pointed to the issuance of 35 decrees including the pre-trial detention of some of the violators who had tried to tamper with payments, in addition to various disciplinary penalties.
Most importantly, according to Baraq, strong decisions and deterrent penalties were issued to ensure the collection of these funds and lifting the pre-trial detention of people who had paid the sums they owed.
He stressed that it is not necessary for every file or case that is placed under scrutiny and observation to be linked to a corruption case.
He pointed out that 1,209 public entities were placed under the scrutiny of the economic sector in administrations and branches, including 250 public entities such as companies or institutions, of an economic nature. The remainder were subsidiaries linked to those institutions and companies.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
