SFO unit to confiscate spoils of crime

The Government intends giving the Serious Fraud Office the job of handling the recovery of assets under new Proceeds of Crime legislation.

The legislation establishes a civil forfeiture regime that allows the state to confiscate assets considered by the courts to be proceeds of crime.

This will be done on the civil court standards of balance of probability without a criminal conviction having to be secured.

Justice Minister Phil Goff said international evidence suggested forfeiture of assets that did not depend on a criminal conviction was a crucial part of tackling organised crime by targeting the criminals' profits and asset base.

He said the work required a high level of forensic accounting skills and in-depth knowledge of techniques used to conceal money.

The ability to reconstruct the financial affairs of individuals, expertise in dealing with serious and complex finance fraud, and strong links to enforcement agencies were also needed.

Mr Goff said the new legislation would create an asset recovery body - involving about 20 staff - within the SFO.

"Overseas experience shows that most criminals, once they have had their assets restrained, prefer to reach a settlement with the asset recovery body before their case goes to court.

"That benefits the taxpayer because assets are surrendered without the need for costly court proceedings."

Convicting criminals and putting them behind bars remained the top priority, he said.

The asset recovery body and other relevant agencies would establish a forum to ensure the greatest possible inter-agency co-operation on issues such as information sharing and staff secondments.

National Party police spokesman Tony Ryall said putting the SFO in charge of confiscating gang assets was the wrong way to go.

"All that will do is undermine the intelligence and forensic effort needed to make this law work," he said. "Crushing the gangs is a job for police officers, not accountants."

- NZPA