The claimant had been called upon to repair an unoccupied flat damaged by fire. He found a metal box containing andpound;18,000 in cash. He took it to the police. He now resisted their assertion that this represented the proceeds of crime and should be forfeited. The former occupants were not suspected of any criminal activity.
Held: The appeal failed. Several features were enough to support the Crown Court’s conclusions both that the money was obtained by unlawful conduct of an unidentifiable kind, and that whoever had left the money had intended not to abandon it. That left the question of whether it stood to be forfeit under section 298 iof the 2002 Act, as to which: ‘On the facts as found by the Crown Court, the hider did intend to use money derived from criminal conduct for the purpose of acts rendered unlawful by section 327 of the 2002 Act. The cash was criminal property in that it was obtained from some kind of criminal conduct. The hider intended to recover the money and spend it. That is, he intended to convert the criminal property, which is a criminal offence within the meaning of section 327 of the 2002 Act. All the elements of section 298(2)(b) of the 2002 Act are therefore satisfied and the Crown Court was entitled to make the order for forfeiture.’
Lewis J
[2013] EWHC 3357 (Admin)
Bailii
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 298
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Parker v British Airways Board CA 1982
Finders Rights and Obligations Explained
The finder of a gold bracelet in an airport lounge acquired rights of possession over the bracelet as against the airport authority who occupied the lounge, but who did not intend to exert control over objects found in the lounge.
Donaldson LJ . .
Cited – Anwoir and Others, Regina v CACD 27-Jun-2008
In attempting to prove that property represented the proceeds of crime, two paths were open to the prosecution. It could do so either by evidence that it derived from conduct of a specific kind or kinds and that conduct of that kind or those kinds . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Police
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.517341
