Extensive confiscation of unjustified property, approved by Parliament

The unjustified property of a criminal sentenced to at least 4 years in prison can be confiscated. The Chamber of Deputies approved on Tuesday, October 13, the bill that provides for the introduction in the Penal Code of extended confiscation.

The Legal Commission unanimously approved a bill that modifies article 112, index 1 of the Penal Code as follows:

(1) Goods other than those provided for in art. 112, when the conviction of a person is ordered for an act capable of providing a material benefit and for which the sanction provided by law is imprisonment of 4 years or more, the court is convinced that the assets come from criminal activities . The court conviction can also be based on the disproportion between the legal income and the wealth of the person.

2) The extended confiscation is ordered on the assets acquired by the convicted person within a period of 5 years before and, where appropriate, after the moment of committing the crime, until the date of issuance of the judicial notification act. Extended forfeiture can also be ordered on assets transferred to third parties, if they knew or should have known that the purpose of the transfer was to avoid confiscation.

The legal deputies introduced a reform to the Criminal Procedure Code so that the prosecutor has the obligation to seize the unjustified assets of an accused. Thus, a new paragraph is inserted in article 249:

“In the case of assets that may be subject to special or extended confiscation, the prosecution will take precautionary measures to avoid hiding, destroying, disposing of or evading the monitoring of said assets.”

The report entered the debate of the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, which is also the decision-making forum, in this case. The law happens to be enacted by President Klaus Iohannis.