FIJI now has a number of tools to deal with proceeds of crime.
This was highlighted by Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde in response to a question by former High Court judge Nazhat Shameem.
The former judge wanted to know how the assets of an accused person could be seized to make sure the offender did not benefit from the criminal offence and whether or not an application had been made in the past on this issue.
The question and answer session was held during a panel discussion at a workshop on Legal Challenges, Good Ethics and Governance in Public Infrastructure Projects in the Building and Construction Industry on Monday.
Mr Pryde said the principal legislation was the Proceeds of Crime Act which had been amended on different occasions over the past years, which allowed the DPP to make various applications to the court both before and after a conviction.
He said the latest amendment made in 2011 was an application for unexplained wealth declarations to be made.
“We have made a number of applications on the Proceeds of Crime Act in the last few years for assets to be firstly restrained and then the applications to have those assets forfeited to the State,” Mr Pryde said.
He said a certain hearing was given for the applications, as the transfer to the third party needed to be considered.
“If the forfeiture orders are granted by the court, assets are sold and the money goes into a forfeited assets fund which is controlled by the Ministry of Finance.
“In the case of unexplained wealth declarations, this is something new; we haven’t as of yet made any of these applications.”
