Seized yachts, real estate and cars of the underworld go up for auction! It is a “treasure trove” of frozen and forgotten assets lying around in sheds or warehouses, for which considerable sums are paid as security deposits!
The State is preparing to exploit the ” loot ” of confiscated assets – from jewellery and expensive works of art, villas and sealed properties to yachts. Everything that has been seized is sealed up and it will be valued and exploited.
The law on the management of seized assets is being activated soon and the first step is to set up a body for this.
Subsequently, the plan of the government’s financial staff provides for the leasing or disposal of the frozen movable and immovable property that has been seized and comes from criminal organization, money laundering, fraud, theft, robbery, forgery, trafficking in human beings, drug trafficking, smuggling, tax evasion, non-payment of debts to the state, and stock market offences.
In addition they will be able to manage the frozen properties exclusively through leasing or concession of their use for a consideration, excluding their sale.
In practice, under the new institutional framework for the management of seized assets, the following will happen:
Centralised control: The procedures for the recovery and management of assets are passed to the management body through the development of an electronic register, the Central Register for the Management of Bound, Seized and Confiscated Assets, without prejudice to the rights of the suspect or accused.
Cash: The money, the contents of the lockboxes and the securities that are frozen shall be transferred to an escrowed interest-bearing deposit account held with the Deposit and Loan Fund.
Movable assets over EUR 300 000: The management entity will be able to sell or dispose of frozen movable assets of high economic value. Movable assets include land, sea or air assets, works of art, intangible property or cultural objects suspected of being derived directly or indirectly from the commission of criminal offences or used as instrumentalities in the commission of criminal offences and with a view to their possible confiscation.
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Movable property of high economic value shall be deemed to be movable property the estimated value of which exceeds EUR 300 000.
The sale shall be carried out only if a bidding price equal to or higher than 85% of the estimated value is achieved.
If a bidding result of at least 85% of the value is not achieved after three auctions, the assets may be sold by adjusting the minimum price.
Utilisation of frozen properties: The frozen properties are managed by the management body.
A value assessment report is drawn up for each frozen or seized real estate asset.
The management may include leasing the property or granting its use to third parties in exchange for a public purpose. The sale may be carried out after a prior hearing of the owner, if the owner’s details are known, when the following conditions are cumulatively met:
The lifting of the freeze or seizure thereof shall not be ordered after a period of six months has elapsed from the date of its execution.
It is established that their safekeeping has become economically unviable or particularly costly or that there is a risk of their economic value being reduced or lost as a result of disuse, the conditions of safekeeping or other risks.
The lease or concession of use shall last for as long as the freezing or seizure of the property lasts and shall expire on or before the issue of the final court decision.
If the property at the time of the freeze or seizure is leased by the owner to a third party, the lease is maintained and the rent is paid into the beneficiary’s sub-account.
The frozen movable property may be made available either free of charge or for consideration to public sector bodies, security bodies, civil society organisations and public benefit organisations to meet their operational needs.
