site.btaCabinet Approves Draft Amendments to Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, National Revenue Agency Act to Strengthen Asset Forfeiture Mechanisms

Amendments to the Penal Code (PC), approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, provide that property acquired through criminal activity and held or owned by third parties acting in bad faith will be subject to confiscation in favour of the state. Additional amendments are proposed to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the National Revenue Agency (NRA) Act, the Government Information Service reported.

The proposed changes implement recommendations from the Fifth Round Mutual Evaluation Report of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL).

The amendments concern individuals who are neither perpetrators nor accomplices in intentional crimes but who have unlawfully benefited from criminal activity. The PC will explicitly regulate cases where property is deemed to have been acquired by a third party acting in bad faith.

A new chapter in the CPC will regulate the participation of third parties, whose property is subject to confiscation, in the criminal proceedings. From the moment a request for forfeiture of their property is made, these persons will have the right to participate in court proceedings, review case materials, present evidence, and appeal court decisions affecting their legal rights and interests.

Further CPC amendments relate to deadlines for investigations and procedural coercive measures.

MONEYVAL has sharply criticized the existing maximum period of 18 months for imposed precautionary measures, citing the risk of undermining the securing of criminal proceeds in large-scale criminal cases, including those involving organized crime and complex money laundering schemes. The proposed amendments will allow these time limits to be extended, but only by court decision. Upon a prosecutor's request, the court may extend the duration of measures for securing fines, confiscation, forfeiture of property in favour of the state, and case-related costs. Each extension may not exceed 18 months for serious crimes and eight months for other cases.

The draft also establishes procedural rules for the seizure of crypto-assets as objects or instruments of crime, to ensure their preservation during the proceedings.

Additionally, changes to the National Revenue Agency Act are proposed to address identified weaknesses in the regime for managing confiscated, forfeited, or abandoned property in favour of the state.