EU states agree draft law on asset recovery from organised crime

ORGANISED crime could face tougher European Union (EU) rules on illegal profits, including those gained by breaking sanctions, as member states look to harmonise relevant laws under a draft directive agreed on Friday (Jun 9).

The new law, once it is passed after talks with the EU parliament and the Commission, updates the minimum set of rules on the tracing, identification, freezing, confiscation and management of criminal property.

“The proposed rules will apply to a wide range of crimes, including the violation of sanctions,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement on Friday.

“People profiteering from doing business with persons or companies on EU sanction lists will see their yields being seized the same way as traffickers in human beings or drug cartels,” the statement said.

EU law enforcement agency Europol estimates that criminal organisations amass revenues of at least at 139 billion euros (S$201.1 billion) every year.

The law will introduce new rules governing the confiscation of “unexplained wealth” that will not require criminal conviction, though this can only be done “if a court is convinced that the property in question in derived from criminal conduct”. REUTERS