Combating Bribery and Corruption

ASSET RECOVERY - PROCEEDS OF CRIME

Proceeds of Crime Act 1991

The Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 permits Police to apply to have the assets that a criminal has used to commit a serious crime or which they have obtained from crime, or purchased with the profits of crime, forfeited to the Crown.

Under this Act, if someone is convicted of an offence that carries at least a five year maximum penalty, then the Police may apply to have any of their assets related to the offence forfeited to the Crown.

Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Bill

In June 2005 the Criminal Proceeds and Instruments Bill was introduced in Parliament. In 2006 a number of changes were made to the Bill in order to enhance the mechanisms to seize criminal proceeds. It was re-named the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Bill. When enacted, the Bill will repeal the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 and provide an enhanced conviction based system and a non-conviction based system. It will allow the Courts to order the forfeiture of assets of people proven (on the balance of probabilities) to have benefited from serious criminal activity. The forfeiture will apply to those assets which the person cannot prove that they have acquired legitimately and regardless of the fact that the person has not been convicted of criminal offending.

Both the current legislation and new Bill enable the Court to order that the assets a person has acquired through their corrupt behaviour be forfeited to the Crown, so leaving them with no benefit from their actions.