Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) will ensue in most cases after the conviction of a person for an offence in the Crown Court and are very common.
In confiscation proceedings the court must determine a person’s benefit from their criminal conduct which and also the amount available of the convicted person after representations from both the prosecutor and the defence and a Confiscation Order will be made in the lesser of the two amounts. A default sentence will be set to be served should the person not pay the ordered amount in the time allowed and is additional to the sentence imposed for the offence itself.
Consequently confiscation proceedings can potentially have a greater effect on the lives of persons convicted than conviction for the offence itself and it is therefore essential that a person be represented by experienced confiscation lawyers.
Janes Solicitors has acted in many confiscation matters and has obtained the best possible result for clients (which has sometimes been the case of a confiscation order only being made in the amount of £1). We also have experience of applying for the variation of confiscations orders and also in appealing confiscation orders.