Further to our earlier post regarding a 2024 conviction and confiscation, the Hague Court of Appeal has ruled on an appeal by the convicted defendants on the quantum of the confiscation.
The revenue from the criminal transactions was €1,924,579.20, with the first instance court allowing deductions of costs, to arrive at an initial confiscation order in the sum of €298,310. This was in line with the Dutch methodology of confiscating net profit rather than gross profit.
The defendant raised a number of arguments:
- that there should be no confiscation;
- that certain costs (transport, packaging, testing, etc) had been improperly not deducted from revenue;
- that the value of confiscated goods should be credited in favour of the defendant; and
- that the defendant did not have the financial means to satisfy the confiscation order.
All of these arguments were rejected by the Hague Court of Appeal. Despite this, the Court reduced the sum to be confiscated to €250,195. The Court provided no reasoning, or basis for, this reduction.
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