Damascus-Sana
The Financial Investigation Department in Damascus revealed that the number of cases registered with it related to dealing in other than the Syrian pound for the current year amounted to 250 cases, of which 180 were dismissed, and work is underway to separate the remainder since the issuance of Legislative Decree No. 3 for the year 2020 to apply strict penalties for anyone who deals in other than the Syrian pound as a means of payments .
In a special statement by SANA’s delegate between the Financial Investigation Judge in Damascus Fuad Sukkar, it is difficult to give an accurate description and number of controls that regulate crimes related to dealing in non-Syrian pound due to the multiplicity of concerned authorities authorized to suppress this crime, which is mostly affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, in addition to the controls that are organized by the competent judicial police. At the Central Bank of Syria, and through the jurisprudence of reality, it sometimes happens that several bodies organize more than one control against the perpetrator of the crime itself, so it is not practically possible to count the number of controls organized in this regard, noting that work is underway in the Ministry of Justice to automate all cases of a financial nature And the Economist, in a desire to advance the judicial work, given the special importance of these cases.
On the implementation of Legislative Decree No. 3, Judge Sukkar explained that the decree aims to prevent the so-called dollarization of payments, as it was observed that some merchants offered and sold their products of goods and services in a currency other than the Lira and asked those dealing with them to make payments generally in foreign currency or precious metals, pointing out that some citizens requested The payment of payments due to them in other than the Syrian pound, which constituted a heavy burden on the state and the citizen at the same time to meet their needs of foreign exchange and precious metals by virtue of the increase in demand for them, which led to the increase in their prices, the decrease in the purchasing power of the pound, and consequently the rise in the prices of goods and services and other negative effects on life The livelihood of the citizen and the national economy.
The judge clarified that the decree tightened the penalty for anyone dealing in a currency other than the lira and made it a criminal penalty with description, with a minimum of seven years of temporary hard labor for everyone who deals in a currency other than the Syrian Pound as a means of payment, regardless of its value, even one dollar, while imposing a financial fine on the perpetrator equivalent to twice the value of the payments in addition to not The permissibility of releasing the perpetrator in all stages of the trial and keeping him in detention until a court ruling is issued by the competent court.
On the courts concerned with the implementation of the decree and the scope of work with the Central Bank in the course of its implementation, the Financial Investigation Judge in Damascus indicated that the Central Bank of Syria has a specialized judicial officer tasked with implementing the provisions of the decree by means of that officer investigating crimes related to dealing in non-Syrian pounds, prosecuting the perpetrators, collecting evidence of the perpetrators of the crime and arresting They have to organize the necessary control against them and then present them to the judiciary with all the organized investigations against them.
He added ... here begins the role of the judiciary to punish everyone who commits the aforementioned offense, as the prosecution actions by the competent financial public prosecution under Legislative Decree No. 10 of 2013 begin to initiate the common right lawsuit against the perpetrator and assign the appropriate legal description to what he committed of the criminal acts punishable by the text of the law and then Investigations, accompanied by the prosecution allegation, shall be deposited with the financial investigation judge in charge of crimes of a financial and economic nature. In turn, he issues his decision to submit the case papers to the referral judge competent to consider accusing the defendant of the felony of dealing in a non-pound fee and he is required to be tried for that felony before the criminal court examining the financial and economic cases updated in Law No. The criminal court conducts his trial in public sessions, and when the criminal act is proven against the accused, a judicial decision is issued against him to incriminate him and the felony of dealing in a foreign currency and impose the necessary punishment against him in the first place.
Judge Sukkar pointed out that the Central Bank of Syria represents this type of case in all the investigation and trial stages through the attorneys of the State Cases Administration to demand compensation for the damages that the bank suffered from the criminal acts committed by the accused.
The Financial Investigation Judge in Damascus confirmed that the issuance of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2020 has had a great impact on citizens in general and on merchants in particular, and through our work in this area, we have noticed a decrease in the number of cases related to crimes of dealing in non-Syrian pounds to nearly half compared to the number of cases that preceded its issuance, which means It achieved a general deterrence among a large segment of the population.
Maha Al-Atrash