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Hunt for criminal money in Europe intensified

News item | 08-06-2009

The Minister of Justice Hirsch Ballin has proposed arrangements within the European Union to make it easier for authorities to deprive criminals of the proceeds from their crimes by facilitating - in more instances - the seizure of criminal assets.

In the near future, it will no longer be necessary, in the case of prejudgment attachments, to establish that the property acquired by another person proceeds directly from the crime of which the criminal is suspected or for which he has been convicted.

Take, for instance, the attachment of a house that had been registered in the name of a life partner before the crime was committed. The new regulation prevents another person from taking over parts of the assets from a criminal by registering property in one's own name with the intention of leading the police and the judicial authorities up the garden path.

The Minister has proposed that the other EU countries acknowledge this measure, so that decisions made in the Netherlands can be enforced quickly in those countries.

Reversal of the burden of proof

An essential part of the new legislation is the reversal of the burden of proof. The starting point in this context is that all expenditures made by the criminal in the six years prior to his crime are considered proceeds from crime. The convicted person must prove that he acquired his assets legally.

Financial investigations

There are often indications that the convicted persons still have their money at their disposal. They appear, for instance, to be able to maintain a luxury lifestyle that does not correspond to their legal income.

In such cases, it must be possible to conduct additional financial investigations to collect the outstanding amounts. In this way, the Minister wants to prevent criminals from using their money to commit crimes once again or investing it in the legal economy.

Confiscate property

From now on, it will also be possible to confiscate property that was purchased from the proceeds from crime, such as jewellery or luxury cars.

This possibility is currently only applicable to property that was acquired directly through the crime or that fulfilled a role in committing the crime, such as the boat carrying drugs.

Travel ban

Another proposal is the travel ban for criminals that were convicted for crimes that were cross-border in nature - such as drug smuggling, human trafficking or human smuggling - and which resulted in large criminally -acquired profits.

This ill-gotten money is often invested abroad. To prevent criminals from travelling after their conviction and from being able to enjoy the foreign possessions they acquired with criminal money, a travel ban - as an additional punishment - would be helpful.

More information

• Ministry of Justice Press release

  08-06-2009