Algeria

1. Does Algeria have legislation making it a criminal offence to engage in money laundering and/or terrorist financing?

Yes, as follows:

• Law n° 05-01 of February 06, 2005 relating to the prevention and the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, amended and supplemented by Ordinance n ° 12-02 of February 13, 2012 and the law n° 15-06 of February 15, 2015
• Ordinance No. 66-156 of June 8, 1966 on the Criminal Code. Amended and completed, in particular by law n° 04-15 of November 10, 2004 and law n° 16-02
• Ordinance n° 66-155 of June 8, 1966 on the Code of Criminal Procedure, amended and completed, notably by law n° 04-14 of November 10, 2004
• Law n° 06-01 of February 20, 2006 relating to the prevention and fight against corruption, amended and completed by Ordinance n° 10-05 of August 26, 2010 and by Law n° 11-15 of August 2, 2011

Presidential Decree No. 14-250 of September 8, 2014 on the ratification of the Arab Convention for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism, done in Cairo on December 21, 2010

2. To whom does the legislation apply?

The legislation applies to any person who commits an offence of money laundering related to crime, misdemeanour, contravention committed in Algeria or abroad. It applies to any person involved (perpetrator and accomplice) whether the offence was carried out or failed.

3. What does the legislation prohibit?

The legislation prohibits the following:

• Conversion or transfer of property, when it is known that the property has been derived from criminal activity or participation in such an activity, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property, or of assisting any person involved in the commission of such activity to evade the legal consequences of actions taken by that person;
• Concealment or disguise of the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement, rights with respect to, or owners ship of property, knowing that such property has been derived from criminal activity or from an act of participation in such an activity;
• Acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing, at the time of receipt, that such property has been derived from criminal activity or from an act of participation in such an activity;
• Participation in, association to commit, attempt to commit and aiding, abetting facilitating and counselling the commission of any of the activities mentioned above.

Terrorist financing: all any act by which any person, by any means whatsoever, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and deliberately, provides or provides or collects funds with the intent that they be used in whole or in to have them used in whole or in part for the purpose of to commit offences qualified as terrorist or subversive acts subversive acts, as provided for and punished by the penal code (Crimes qualified as terrorist or subversive acts).

4. How is money laundering defined? Does underlying criminal activity have to be proven?

Law n ° 15-06 of February 15, 2015 supplementing the law n ° 05-01 of February 06, 2005 relating to the prevention and the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, defines money laundering as follows:

“The conversion or transfer of property which the author knows is the product of a crime, in order to conceal or disguise the illicit origin of said property or to help any person involved in the main offence following which, these goods are recovered to escape the legal consequences of these acts”.

The commission or attempted commission of any act to conceal or disguise the origin of property acquired in a manner contrary to the domestic laws and regulations of each State Party in order to make it appear as if it came from legitimate sources (Article 1 of the Arab Convention on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of terrorism).

Yes, underlying criminal activity has to be proven. Given that the legislation incriminates the facts of money laundering and that these facts have the character of a criminal offence (Art. 389 ter of the Penal Code), these facts must necessarily be proven.

In order for the money launderer to be sanctioned, the prosecution must prove that the funds are the direct or indirect proceeds of a predicate offence. In Algeria, the judge cannot sanction the perpetrator of the money laundering committed in Algeria if the predicate offence of money laundering, committed abroad, does not have the character of a criminal offence under the law of that country (Art 5 from law n°05-01).

5. What level of intent or knowledge is required to establish a violation?

The intentional element of money laundering lies in the knowledge and awareness of the prohibited nature of the laundering conduct (laundering fact) and in the will to carry out the material acts punishable under money laundering.]

The Algerian law expressly cites the intentional element in Article 2 of Law No. 05-01 and Article 389 bis of the Penal Code « the conversion or transfer of capital which the perpetrator knows to be the direct or indirect product of an offence ... »

« ...or rights thereto which the perpetrator knows to be the proceeds of an offence... » and

« ...by a person who knows, at the time of receipt, that property is the proceeds of crime ...»

6. What are the potential penalties for infringing the legislation?

The available sanctions for individuals convicted of money laundering:

• Main penalties: the Algerian criminal code provides for the main penalties in the event of either simple money laundering, which is punishable by 5 to ten years imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 DA, or aggravated, which is punishable by imprisonment of ten to twenty years and a fine of 4,000,000 to 8,000,000 DA.
• Additional penalties:

1. The illicit income and property derived from one or more of the offences provided may be seized or frozen by court order or by order of the competent authority.
2. There may also be penalties restricting freedom s:legal prohibition, prohibition to exercise civic, civil and family rights, house arrest, prohibition of stay, temporary prohibition to exercise a profession or activity, closure of the establishment, exclusion from public contracts, withdrawal, suspension of the driving license or cancellation with the prohibition to request the issue of a new license, withdrawal of the passport, dissemination or display of the judgment or of the decision of conviction, the ban from the national territory and the power of revocation (under Art 389 bis 5 and 09 of the penal code).

The available sanctions for legal entities convicted of money laundering:

• Main penalties: the legal person who commits the offence of simple or aggravated money laundering is punishable by a fine (one million DA to three million DA if the money laundering is simple, four million DA to eight million DA if it is aggravated) and confiscation of the laundered property.

Additional penalties: prohibition to exercise a professional or social activity, or dissolution of the legal person (Art 389 seventh of the penal code).

7. Does the legislation have extra-territorial reach?

Yes, Algerian money laundering legislation has extraterritorial reach, as it is imposed even on branches and subsidiaries of national financial institutions based abroad, as well as on individuals of Algerian nationality. However, the original acts committed abroad can only give rise to criminal proceedings for money laundering and/or financing of terrorism if they have the character of a criminal offence both in the country where they were committed and under Algerian law.

8. Are there additional anti-money laundering or counter terrorist financing regulations or obligations, such as registration or reporting obligations, for businesses or individuals that operate in particular sectors or undertake particular activities?

Yes.

• The due diligence obligations that must be applied by professionals subject to this system (banks, financial institutions and other related financial institutions): identification and verification of the identity of the customer, of the beneficial owner, collection of information as to the origin of the funds ... and conservation of said information for the purposes of communication, at its request, to the financial intelligence unit (see article 7 of law 05-01).

The obligation to make a declaration to the financial intelligence unit in the event of a suspicion of money laundering. The legal obligation to make a notification of a suspicion applies to “any natural or legal person, who within the framework of his profession, advises and / or carries out transactions involving deposits, exchanges, investments, conversion or any other capital movement”, (see article 19 and 20 of law 05-01).

9. What are the potential penalties for failing to comply with these obligations?

In accordance with the provisions of Article 32 of Law 05-01, every subject who wilfully and knowingly refrains from issuing and/or sending a notification of suspicion shall be punished with a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 DA, without prejudice to more severe penalties or any other disciplinary penalty.

10. Who are the relevant enforcement authorities in Algeria and what are their contact details?

CTRF: “Cellule de Traitement des Renseignements Financiers” (Financial Intelligence Processing Unit). This unit, an Independent Administrative Authority created under the Minister of Finance is in charge of collecting and processing suspicious transaction reports sent to it by the reporting entities and transmitting the corresponding file to the competent public prosecutor.

Contact details: MINISTRY OF FINANCE, Algerian Financial Intelligence Processing Unit

FIPU – CTRF in French:

Building Ahmed Francis – Ben Aknoun – Algiers

T: +213 215 953 10

F: +213 215 951 96

contact.ctrf@mf.gov.dz

Central Office for the Repression of Corruption (in French: l’Office Central de Répression de la Corruption “O.C.R.C”), which is a central operational service of the judicial police, in charge of researching and establishing offences in the fight against corruption. It is placed under the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals.

address: 6, rue Djamila place El Qods, Hydra, Algerian

T: +213 234 800 83

F: +213 234 800 72

contact@ocrc.gov.dz

National Organ for Preventing and Fighting Corruption (in French l’Organe National de Prévention et de Lutte contre la Corruption “O.N.P.L.C”), which is an independent administrative authority with legal personality and financial autonomy placed under the President of the Republic.

address: 12, rue Souidani Boudjemaa, El Mouradia, Algerian

T: +213 212 394 76

F: +213 212 394 55

High Authority for Transparency, Prevention and the Fight against Corruption (in French: la Haute Autorité de Transparence, de Prévention et de Lutte contre la Corruption), installed in July, 2022, which is an independent institution with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy. Its most important prerogatives concern the administrative and financial investigation of signs of illicit wealth of public officials.

Finally, it should be noted that we do not have information on the address of this authority and its contact details.