New law makes it easier to confiscate the proceeds of crime
A bill implementing the European confiscation directive, which will facilitate the faster and more effective confiscation of valuables and assets which are the proceeds of crime, entered the consultation phase earlier today. At the moment, confiscation can only take place after a suspect has been convicted. The bill will make it possible to do so without a suspect having been convicted, or even without a suspect having been identified. This form of confiscation is also called non-conviction-based confiscation, or NCBC. The directive will also make cross-border cooperation easier in order to detect and confiscate criminal assets.
In 2024, European agreements were reached on the more effective recovery of criminal assets. Dutch legislation is now also being amended to comply with these agreements. Having the same criminal procedure within Europe will also improve cooperation with other EU member states. In addition, member states’ national asset recovery offices are going to cooperate more closely and it will soon be possible to sell confiscated property in more cases before a criminal case is over. That will reduce storage space and costs.
As Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel explains, “The confiscation of criminal assets is an essential factor in the fight against the criminal revenue model. It enables us to hit criminals where it hurts most and prevent them from being able to invest money in their criminal activities. This new bill will enable assets and money to be seized even without any prior conviction, if there is proof that they are the proceeds of crime. The strength of the new method lies in reversing the current modus operandi by focusing not on the person, but instead on the money and property which are the proceeds of crime. Their confiscation will have a much greater effect as a result. The thing that will really make a difference here is putting the ball firmly in the suspect’s court. If the Public Prosecution Service has made a reasonable case that an item has been acquired as a result of a criminal act, the suspect will have to give a proper and substantiated explanation of its origin in order to avoid losing it.”
This could apply to situations in which a large sum of money is found in a crawl space under a house which is suspected of having been gained through criminal activity, or money earned through cybercrime or other forms of online crime. The people behind these types of criminal activity are often anonymous. Although criminal assets can often be tracked and traced to a criminal offence, the fact that there is no actual suspect may mean that no prosecution can be initiated. This new bill will ensure that the money is confiscated and taken out of criminal hands.
The intention to increase the options for confiscating criminal assets by implementing the confiscation directive was announced in the government’s policy programme, as outlined in the coalition agreement.