Executive Decree PCM-07-2023 by which an Intervening Commission is appointed for the Administrative Office of Seized Assets (OABI)
Poder Ejecutivo
- Decree: PCM-07-2023
- Published: February 9, 2023
- Issuing body: Poder Ejecutivo
- Gazette: 36,151
- Category: Administrative
Summary
This decree establishes an intervention commission to manage the Seized Assets Office (OABI) for one year due to serious irregularities in its operations. The commission, composed of a president and two deputies, must create internal rules, improve the financial situation, review personnel, and present reports on how to restore the institution's proper functioning.
Considerations
Whereas the Constitution of the Republic establishes that Honduras is a State of Law, Sovereign, constituted as a free, democratic and independent Republic to ensure its inhabitants the enjoyment of justice, freedom, culture and economic and social well-being (article 1).
Whereas the Constitution of the Republic establishes that the President of the Republic holds the executive power in representation and for the benefit of the people, being responsible for directing the General Policy of the State and representing it, as well as issuing Agreements and Decrees in accordance with Law (articles 235 and 245 numerals 2) and 11)).
Whereas the General Law of Public Administration provides that the President of the Republic has in her charge the supreme direction and coordination of Centralized and Decentralized Public Administration and in the exercise of her functions may act alone or in Council of Ministers (article 11).
Whereas through Legislative Decree No. 45-2002, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" edition number 29,781 dated May 15, 2002, the "Law Against Money Laundering" entered into force, through which the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI) was created, as an organ dependent on the Public Ministry, tasked with overseeing the custody and administration of all assets, proceeds or instruments of crime that the authority places in its custody (article 20).
Whereas through Legislative Decree No. 144-2014, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" edition number 33,718, dated April 30, 2015, the "Special Law Against Money Laundering" enters into force, which establishes that the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI) is an organ attached to the Secretary of State in the Office of the Presidency, with its own legal personality, and enjoys technical, administrative and financial autonomy for the direct management of matters entrusted to it by Law; constituting itself as a specialized technical organ for the adequate custody, preservation and administration of seized, forfeited or abandoned assets that the competent authority places at its disposal (article 73).
Whereas the General Law of Public Administration establishes that the Executive Power may intervene totally or partially in all entities, organs or units of Public Administration that operate at losses, do not fulfill their functions or do not adequately provide the services for which they were created. Should intervention proceed, it shall be in charge of an Intervention Commission that shall be responsible for the administration of the intervened entity, organ or unit and shall conduct an evaluation thereof, with the Advisory of the Superior Audit Court; said Intervention Commission has the powers that correspond to the administrators thereof exercising their legal representation and shall have the necessary powers to establish opportune recommendations, which allow the Branches of State to take pertinent and timely actions, within the scope of their constitutional attributions (articles 98, 99 and 100).
Whereas it is of public knowledge that the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI) was managed by the previous administration irregularly, without any oversight or transparency. The current authorities have had to face the serious crisis caused by the nonexistence of records, archives and inventories; lack of manuals and/or internal procedural regulations that guarantee control and transparency in the custody, preservation and administration of assets; millionaire arrears in the payment of rentals; abandonment, plunder and destruction of movable and immovable property; mismanagement of seized companies, causing their closure and generating unpayable debts; administrative arrears, among others.
Whereas the Executive Director of the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI), faced with the serious institutional crisis, coordinated the conducting of an Audit for the period 2003-2022 in each of the administrative units, whose results evidenced the illegal technical, financial and administrative disaster found in the institution, for which reason it is impossible for it to comply with the services for which it was created.
Whereas for the performance of the tasks corresponding to the objective of the present Decree, it is necessary to appoint suitable persons of recognized integrity, civic virtue, professionalism and competence in the fulfillment of their functions, called to integrate an Intervention Commission that acts under the principles of transparency, efficiency and rationality.
Whereas the Constitution of the Republic establishes that Honduras is a State of Law, Sovereign, constituted as a free, democratic and independent Republic to ensure its inhabitants the enjoyment of justice, freedom, culture and economic and social well-being (article 1).
Whereas the Constitution of the Republic establishes that the President of the Republic holds the executive power in representation and for the benefit of the people, being responsible for directing the General Policy of the State and representing it, as well as issuing agreements and decrees in accordance with Law (articles 235 and 245 numerals 2) and 11)).
Whereas the General Law of Public Administration provides that the President of the Republic has in her charge the supreme direction and coordination of centralized and decentralized Public Administration and in the exercise of her functions may act alone or in Council of Ministers (article 11).
Whereas through Legislative Decree No. 126-1968, published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" edition number 19,411 dated March 6, 1968, the following was approved:
Amendments
- Modifies: Agreement 0611-2020 (Amendment) — articles 73
Articles
To appoint an Interim Commission of the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI), which shall be in charge of the administration and operation of the entity, and which must provide a work plan and solutions to the serious situation being faced by the institution. The Interim Commission shall have broad powers in accordance with the powers granted in this Decree and those contained in article 100 of the General Law of Public Administration; as well as all those powers that legally correspond to it.
The Interim Commission shall be composed of a commissioner president and two deputies, both subject to free removal and appointment by the President of the Republic, with the attributions of the superior decision-making body, primarily with respect to administration, operation, and functioning. The Commission shall remain in office for a period of one (1) year, and may be extended. Decisions of the Interim Commission shall be made by simple majority of its members, and whoever presides shall have the legal representation of the institution.
The Interim Commission shall frame its management in the following objectives:
- a)
To ensure that, before concluding its administrative tenure, the issuance of necessary instruments, such as regulations and/or internal manuals, is carried out with the purpose of guaranteeing control, efficiency, profitability, and transparency in the custody, safeguarding, and administration of seized assets;
- b)
To increase the patrimonial solvency of the institution, through the implementation of measures that guarantee conditions of security, liquidity, and diversification;
- c)
To proceed in accordance with applicable legislation regarding the classification of personnel, the celebration, termination, or revocation of employment contracts and personnel agreements, in conformity with the provisions of article 100 of the General Law of Public Administration; and,
- d)
Those others that it considers necessary to fulfill its obligations and the objective of this Decree.
The Interim Commission shall request from the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC), the advisory services to which article 99 of the General Law of Public Administration refers.
The Interim Commission shall render a preliminary report to the President of the Republic, within a period of up to ninety (90) business days; as well as a final report upon concluding its mandate. Said reports shall contain recommendations to improve the administrative and financial situation of the institution and the report of actions implemented during that period of time, with the purpose of guaranteeing strict compliance with the objectives of the intervention process. Upon receipt of the respective report, the competent State bodies shall issue the decisions that are necessary to guarantee the correct functioning of the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI), imputing responsibility as appropriate. Among the measures that may be adopted are the modification, merger, division, or suppression of the intervened entity.
The Interim Commission shall proceed to review the budget approved for the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI) for the present fiscal year, with the purpose of identifying the resources necessary to finance the expenses for its correct functioning. If necessary, the State Department of Finance (SEFIN) is authorized to make the allocation of resources in accordance with budgetary availability, whose fundamental purpose shall be to address the expenses required for compliance with the objectives mandated by this Decree.
The Interim Commission must identify resources within the budget of the Office for the Administration of Seized Assets (OABI) to finance its operating expenses. If necessary, the State Department of Finance (SEFIN) is authorized to make the allocation of resources in accordance with budgetary availability, said resources shall be intended to address unavoidable expenses for the fulfillment of the powers granted to the Commission. Therefore, the Interim Commission must present a request with the detail of expenses for the programming of budget execution before the State Department of Finance (SEFIN).
This Decree is of immediate execution and shall be published in the Official Journal "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, on the ninth (09) day of the month of February in the year two thousand twenty-three (2023). BE COMMUNICATED AND PUBLISHED. IRIS XIOMARA CASTRO SARMIENTO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC RODOLFO PASTOR DE MARÍA CAMPOS STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY JOSÉ CARLOS CARDONA ERAZO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT RIXI RAMONA MONCADA GODOY STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF FINANCE TOMÁS EDUARDO VAQUERO MORRIS STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF GOVERNANCE, JUSTICE AND DECENTRALIZATION EDUARDO ENRIQUE REINA GARCÍA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ÁNGEL EDMUNDO ORELLANA MERCADO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF TRANSPARENCY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION RICARDO ARTURO SALGADO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING PEDRO JOSÉ BARQUERO TERCERO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DORIS YOLANY GARCÍA PAREDES STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS RAMÓN ANTONIO SABILLÓN PINEDA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF SECURITY JOSÉ MANUEL ZELAYA ROSALES STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL DEFENSE JOSÉ MANUEL MATHEU AMAYA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF HEALTH LUCKY HALACH MEDINA ESTRADA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT DANIEL ENRIQUE ESPONDA VELÁSQUEZ STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION MELINA NATALIE ROQUE SANDOVAL STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAURA ELENA SUAZO TORRES STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK ERICK MEDARDO TEJADA CARBAJAL STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF ENERGY MAURICIO ANTONIO RAMOS SUAZO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT LESLY SARAHÍ CERNA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY YADIRA ESTHER GÓMEZ CHAVARRÍA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF TOURISM GLORIA ANNARELLA VÉLEZ OSEJO STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF CULTURES, ARTS AND PATRIMONIES OF THE PEOPLES OF HONDURAS OCTAVIO JOSÉ PINEDA PAREDES STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, WATER AND SANITATION PABLO RAMÓN SOTO BONILLA STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICES OF RISK MANAGEMENT AND NATIONAL CONTINGENCIES (COPECO) FABIOLA CLAUDETT ABUDOJ MENA STATE SECRETARY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND MONITORING OF PROJECTS AND AGREEMENTS
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