IN BRIEF
Amongst the many powers of the Commissioner of the Australian
Federal Police lies the ability to seize, confiscate and forfeit
property suspected to be the proceeds or the instrument of a crime
against the Commonwealth. These powers stem from the Proceeds
of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) (POC Act).
Typically, this will relate to property that:
1
is derived from criminal activity;
2
is used in committing criminal activity;
3
belongs to a serious drug offender; or
4
belongs to an individual but cannot be explained how it was
acquired.
The owner of the property does not themselves need to be the
criminal offender. For example, a luxury yacht that may have been
borrowed and used for importing illegal drugs may still be
restrained and confiscated, regardless if the owner did not know of
or was not even involved in the offending.
