DC127 Miguel Garcia White of the Royral Gibraltar Police’s Money Laundering and Investigation Unit (MLIU) has successfully attended and passed a Confiscation course delivered by National Crime Agency in Manchester from the 8th to 12th January 2018. All course applicants were required to sit and pass an exam prior to being able to enrol on the course. The exam touched on the various aspects of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and prospective students were required to achieve a 70% pass to be able to attend the course.

Confiscation is the process used by the courts to recover the benefit of criminal conduct. The trigger that sets this process in motion is the conviction by the Courts for a criminal offence from which the defendant has benefited.

Part 1 of the course dealt with legislation and the basic concepts for Restraint and Confiscation (Benefit, Criminal Conduct, Criminal Lifestyle, Lifestyle Assumptions, Recoverable & Available amounts, Tainted Gifts as well as the Power to Seize Property, Corporate Veil and Compensation amongst many others.

Part 2 dealt with Court procedure, Confiscation in Court, Statements of Information, Enforcement, Reconsideration & Appeals, Prosecutors’ Statements and included Disclosure Orders, Orders of Repatriation and Civil Recovery.

During the course students were continually assessed on aspects of POCA procedures. On the final day the students had to undergo a one day assessment based on a case study by the end of which they had to complete and submit their sample Restraint and Confiscation Statements on which they were assessed.

HELD BACK ON COP’S INSTRUCTIONS