Making crime pay

Responses to the report should be sent to: Financial Crime Team, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AT or by email to FCT@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

On 14 June the Government published the results of its major study of criminal finance, “Recovering the Proceeds of Crime” ( www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/2000/crime/recovery). The report contains radical proposals to extend civil forfeiture of assets “where there is strong evidence of the criminal origins of the property, but insufficient evidence for criminal conviction of the owner”. The paper’s authors acknowledge that the measures represent a significant expansion of state power and are at pains to allay civil liberties concerns by stressing that the burden of proof will remain with the authorities in accordance with the “balance of probabilities” test.