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The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 on the property rights of third parties, by evaluating whether the interpretation of the scheme of the PMLA, 2002 results in a deprivation of rights, by virtue of the provision for the provisional attachment of property.[AQ3] In doing so, this paper attempts to consider two sub-categories of third parties that stand affected by §5 of the PMLA, 2002.

Primarily the authors analyse diverging judgements and case law across various high courts to evaluate the position of law with regards to attachment of property. To reach a precise legal conclusion, the authors consider the composite scheme of the PMLA, 2002 in their analysis.

It has been concluded that there is a clear lack of judicial cohesion in the interpretation of the PMLA, 2002, and in the absence of a judgement by the Supreme Court of India, enforcement authorities have failed to correctly identify the boundaries of the offence of money laundering, resulting in a dangerous deprivation of rights.

This paper fills a vacuum of detailed scholarship on anti-money laundering provisions in India, while also being contemporaneously relevant, as it considers the effects of the PMLA, 2002 on bona fide economic transactions and secured creditors.

‘It is incorrect to view the recovery of the profits of unlawful activity as a part of the criminal justice process and, as such, justifiable only on the basis of a prior finding of guilt according to the criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.’

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the limitations of training provided to accredited financial investigators, police officers generally, the Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary in relation to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, money laundering, the investigation of financial crime and the options to recover the assets of criminals.

A literature review of the legislation and statutory instruments; training material; evidence provided to government committees; academic papers and journal articles was undertaken to identify the intention of the legislation and how this is manifested in the training of those responsible for dealing with money laundering; cash detention and forfeiture; restraint and confiscation.

The training provided to accredited financial investigators has failed to progress since the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 that legislated for its provision. It is limited to the use of the powers granted to financial investigators within the Act, ignoring the variety of roles in which an accredited financial investigator can be used, as well as the changing face of criminality generally and specifically in terms of fraud and money laundering and the predicate criminality behind it. Additionally, the training for the Crown Prosecution Service and judiciary is inadequate with insufficient lawyers and judges with expertise in Proceeds of Crime work. Suggestions for the improvement in training are made with a recommendation that the training be reviewed regularly to ensure currency and relevance.

This paper serves as a useful review of the existing training picture in financial investigation and identifies its limitations and areas for improvement. It is essential that financial investigation is not viewed as an inconvenience or a niche role and that it is considered essential to the investigation of organised crime, money laundering, acquisitive and economic crime.

The aim of this study is to investigate how Nigeria can seek legal assistance on recovery of its stolen assets to reduce corruption and to ensure no sheltered havens for incomes from corruption.

The research adopts a conceptual method by using existing literature with the application of doctrinal legal research technique. The research likewise uses primary and secondary sources of legislations such as legislative provisions, case laws and the provisions of Chapter V of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the process of asset recovery. The study compares the United Kingdom, USA, Hong Kong in China, South Africa and Nigeria proceeds of corruption recovery laws to gain basic legal features that would be beneficial to Nigeria in reforming its anti-corruption laws.

The principle of territorial sovereignty under the international law makes the offence of corruption not punishable outside the jurisdiction of the state where the offence was committed. As a result, some developed states boost their economy with these proceeds and the developing states are impoverished. There is also an allegation of discrepancies in the figures of funds recovered by the anti-corruption agencies. Thus, there is the need for transparency; law on civil forfeiture of proceeds of corruption; bilateral treaties; and mutual legal assistance on investigation, confiscation among countries for tracing and returning of proceeds of corruption.

The estimates of the volume of assets looted from Nigeria vary widely because of the complexity of collecting data on proceeds of corruption as official statistics on proceeds of corruption recovered do not exist as each anti-corruption agency occasionally makes pronouncements on the volume of assets recovered without any breakdown in terms of assets seized, nature of assets and their locations and its values. Such data would aid policymakers to measure the effectiveness of the present assets legislations and to enhance its effectiveness.

Considering the clandestine manners corruption is being committed, it is tasking to correctly evaluate the amount of money stolen so, their economic impacts on the nation’s economy.

Absence of accurate data would aid policymakers to measure the effectiveness of the present assets legislations and to enhance its effectiveness.

The study offers modules on management of proceeds of corruption by establishing “Assets Management Commission” and “Proceeds of Corruption Forfeiture Funds” for reparation of victims’ of corruption. The study suggests the necessity for civil forfeiture of proceeds of corruption, which is presently lacking, and creation of Proceeds of Corruption Recovery and Management Commission to manage such proceeds and advocate establishment of “Proceeds of Corruption Forfeiture Funds” for reparation of victims of corruption.

In recent years an emerging global trend of introducing legislation to use civil procedures against criminal assets can be detected. However, these civil forfeiture models, which exist vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This paper seeks to identify issues which need to be considered when such a scheme is being designed and examines the options which have been adopted.

The paper examines the legislative provisions in a number of jurisdictions setting out the common issues which have arisen and the range of options which have attempted as potential solutions.

The paper concludes that jurisdictions which seek to introduce civil forfeiture legislations now have various examples from which to learn but that these models will likely evolve in the face of litigation and experience as legislatures and policymakers attempt to produce fair but effective procedures for the civil recovery of criminal proceeds.

As further jurisdictions respond to this emerging trend and draft their own legislation, there is much to be leant from the issues which others have considered necessary to address and the way in which these issues have been dealt with.

This paper aims to explore the evolution of the law for combating economic crimes including money laundering in Tanzania and explore the current developments in the anti-money laundering (AML) law and the ongoing fight against these crimes in Tanzania.

A desk-based review of documents on money laundering and its control in Tanzania was conducted. The paper presents qualitative data from the documentary sources. It applies the doctrinal legal research approach to examine, analyze and describe the AML law applicable in Tanzania. The paper uses the “law-in-context” research approach to explore some non-law aspects of money laundering in Tanzania and interrogate how the law addresses non-law dimensions of money laundering. Policy documents and media reports were analyzed. The thematic data analysis technique was applied, which involved identifying, describing and reporting issues according to the themes emerging from the data.

The AML law in Tanzania emerged from the law that was originally enacted to curb economic crimes. The law has evolved for some decades. Its evolution has been driven by domestic factors and foreign drivers which are political, economic and social in nature. The role of the AML law has been changing. Initially, the law was a tool for curbing economic crimes. Recently, the law has acquired a new role, namely, to facilitate the recovery of illicit funds and non-financial assets from offenders and enable the authorities in Tanzania to use those economic resources for developmental purposes.

The paper underscores the need for the Government of Tanzania to re-consider the broader implications involved in its current efforts to tackle economic crimes and money laundering. The balance between the implementation of the measures to combat money laundering and economic crimes in Tanzania and the importance of protecting rights of persons indicted with those offences should be struck. The AML law should be applied in such a way not to infringe the rights of the accused persons and not to throttle economic activities including the flow of legitimate foreign investments into Tanzania.

This paper generates insightful information to policymakers, law enforcers, regulators and other stakeholders who undertake activities to tackle money laundering and its control in Tanzania and researchers who study these issues for purposes of providing understanding of the problem and facilitating policy and legal reforms. The paper raises issues that can be explored further in future and contribute to the discourse on money laundering and its control in Tanzania.

Politicians justified the introduction of the illiberal and liberal parts of the UK's anti‐money laundering and asset recovery regime by reference to the extra‐ordinary threat posed by organised crime. This paper attempts to evaluate the extent to which the financial measures contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002 and the Serious and Organised Crime and Policing Act 2005 are actually used against this threat.

The objective is achieved by reference to four distinct datasets found on the use of these measures. The first consists of the regular, usually monthly, bulletins on the Proceeds of Crime produced by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA). The second – which reveals the length of sentences given to those convicted of money laundering offences under the POCA – was gathered from the Financial Action Task Force, the Home Office and Justice Office in Scotland. The third consists of the value of the cases which had been, and which were being, dealt with by the ARA at the time the National Audit Office produced it's report on the institution. The fourth is the number of financial reporting orders which have been imposed upon criminals, follows the discovery of an earlier version whilst examining parliamentary records.

The triangulated results suggest that the POCA powers – originally used by use against organised crime – were used against this alleged threat only on a small minority and number of occasions.

This infrequent use raises major questions of either the ability of the policing agencies including the Serious and Organised Crime Agency to take on organised crime and/or the credibility of those who exaggerated a threat of organised crime to justify the (often illiberal) powers.

This paper questions whether the POCA will achieve one of its original aims. It will interest politicians and practitioners concerned with the combating of organised crime and/or anti‐money laundering and asset recovery as well as criminologists and those interested in civil liberties.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (the PMLA/the Act) was enacted in India in 2002. Since then, Indian courts have had to deal with two interconnected issues owing to the nature of the offence of money laundering (ML) as conceived in the Act itself. The first issue relates to the independence of the offence of ML from the conviction of the underlying offence; and the second is the manner in which the PMLA operates – whether it does so retrospectively or prospectively. The purpose of this paper is to delve into these questions as there is no definitive and binding answer provided for by the courts. It aims to provide normative answers to the above-mentioned questions to enable better functioning of the Act.

This research paper examines international conventions relating to ML, reports by inter-governmental bodies, the statutory language of the Act and judgements rendered by courts.

The paper goes on to conclude that for fulfilling the purpose of the Act, the offence of ML must be considered separate from the conviction of the predicate offence. As a result, it also concludes that the Act must apply in instances where the predicate offence was committed prior to its inclusion in the Act’s Schedule if the act of ML occurs after such inclusion.

There does not exist any scholarly literature addressing the judiciary’s interpretation of the Act regarding the said two issues in a systematic fashion. Added to this is the fact that there exist uncertainty and ambiguity because of conflicting judgements. By analyzing international instruments, the phraseology of the Act and contradictory case-law, this paper attempts to find definitive solutions to the said two questions in a purposive manner.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which the courts in the UK have interpreted the meaning of criminal property in the principal money laundering offenses under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

This paper employs a doctrinal legal analysis and secondary data, which analyze the primary source, which is POCA itself, and secondary sources including case law, articles in academic journals, books and online databases.

The authors contend that the courts in the UK have been dynamically interpreting the ambit of money laundering offenses in POCA and that despite such judicial activism in the construction of criminal property, it has provided a much needed certainty to the law.

This paper could be a useful source of information for the practitioners, academicians, policymakers and students in this particular area of crime.

Over the last two decades in particular, national legislatures have passed legislation aimed at ensuring that criminals do not profit from crime. This has been in response to the rise of organised crime and to the massive amounts of money being generated, in particular, by drug trafficking. It has been an attempt to destroy ‘the heart of the monster, its financial base’. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the proceeds of crime response by national governments can be perceived as evolving through a series of different models, thus allowing a comparative approach amongst different jurisdictions. Each model is composed of elements from three different strands: money‐laundering legislation, confiscation legislation and organisational structures and arrangements. These strands have each gone through their own evolution, which will now be examined.