Confiscation Proceedings

The purpose of confiscation proceedings is to deprive the defendant of the financial benefit that he or she has obtained from criminal conduct. The Court calculates the benefit from the criminal conduct of the accused and in certain circumstances is obliged to make assumptions about the source of any assets held by the defendant.

For the purposes of calculating benefit obtained as a result of general or particular criminal conduct, the value of any property obtained will be assessed as the greater of the following two values:

•    the market value at the time that the property was obtained.; or
•    the market value as at the date of the confiscation hearing.

The court then undertakes a calculation of what the defendant has available to meet any requirement for confiscation and makes an order accordingly. The law in this area is very severe as well as complex. If you are to avoid a severe order it is essential that you take advice at an early stage. At Hamnett Osborne Tisshaw we have extensive experience of confiscation proceedings and recent cases include:

•    R –v- Flint            Fraudulent Trading £6m.
•    R –v- Asghar       Counterfeiting £7.5m
•    R –v- Shaik          Fraud £0.5m
•    R –v- Fisher         Major drug conspiracy.
•    R –v- Hysenaj      Tonbridge Robbery £53m

We can offer you a free initial consultation and if you find yourself facing criminal proceedings you may well qualify for legal aid. If you require advice in respect of your Confiscation case, please contact David at david@hotsol.co.uk