Proceeds of Crime
5. Confiscation Orders
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 18 Aug 2015
- Following a person’s conviction proceeds of crime laws empower a court to make a confiscation order. This may take one of two forms:
- a forfeiture order; or
- a fine.
- Where property has been used to carry out a crime or obtained as a result of criminal activity the court will make a forfeiture order that ‘forfeits’ the property to the government.
- By contrast a pecuniary penalty order (fine) empowers the court to impose a monetary penalty equivalent to any financial benefit gained from an offence that cannot be traced to specific property.
- Some rules also specify the grounds on which a court may form a reasonable suspicion that your total wealth exceeds your lawfully acquired wealth. These are known as ‘unexplained wealth orders.’
- These types of orders aim to:
- deprive you of the proceeds and benefits derived from committing a crime;
- allow for the forfeiture of tainted property; and
- enable the police to trace property and the proceeds of property.
- All property seized is sold at auction by the government.
- The proceeds are then banked by the government until they are distributed back into the community. These funds are usually used to pay for projects and enforcement relating to crime prevention.
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