René Fernández, new minister of the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering (Seprelad), expressed for 730 AM that he feels prepared to occupy his new role in the Executive. He pointed out that his trajectory in the criminal field and working from Gafilat as an evaluator gave him sufficient preparation to be able to be in charge of said secretariat.
“It is challenging because we are at a historic moment because an evaluation has been made that we have passed but with opportunities for improvement. From Seprelad we must do this follow-up”, he expressed.
When asked about the fact that the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (Gafilat) gave a low grade to investigations into money laundering, he said that this represents a great challenge for the judicial system. “It is a red light, in terms of the investigation and sanction of money laundering. What Gafilat asks for in this sense is a greater amount of sentence. A series of elements and components that we must continue working on and carry forward with the Public Ministry”, he commented.
Finally, he argued that from the package of laws approved in 2019, specialized courts were created in the Judicial Power so that they have the capacity to judge complex cases. We are going to continue along the same path, there are several reports that will continue to be prepared to strengthen open investigations”, he concluded.
The President of the Republic of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, appointed Juan Federico Martin Hetter Garay as the new interim executive secretary minister of the National Anticorruption Secretariat (Senac), who replaces René Fernández.
Minister Hetter is a lawyer, graduated from the National University of Asunción with an academic average of 4.5. He has a master’s degree in International Economic Criminal Law from the University of Granada, Spain, with outstanding qualifications.
