NCJ Number
180035
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 323-332
Date Published
1999
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article considers civil law devices and amendments to existing criminal legislative schemes recommended by the Home Office Working Group on Confiscation to facilitate the divestiture of property linked to criminal conduct and to control money laundering.
Abstract
The Working Group recommended 18 amendments to existing UK confiscation enforcement provisions, including standardizing methods of assessing the calculation of confiscation orders, placing limitations on time allowed to pay, increasing the period of imprisonment in default, clarifying the provisions regarding interest payable on outstanding orders, and clearly identifying parties responsible for enforcement. In addition, the Working Group suggested establishing a centralized confiscation agency. The Group advocated creating the offense of failing to disclose the knowledge or suspicion that someone is laundering the proceeds of non-drug criminal activities. The Group suggested using civil law, with its lower threshold of proof, to recover the proceeds of crime. Civil proceedings can divest individuals of the benefits of crime yet the divestiture is not contingent on proof of a criminal offense. References