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Can 'proceeds of crime' be taken if there is no conviction?


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Interesting case in The Star today.

 

A market trader is targetted for alledgedly selling fake designer goods.

Looks like he was bang to rights, but the CPS say that it is not in the public interest to prosecute.

 

So how come they are now discussing how to take £18,000 from him?

 

http://www.thestar.co.uk/headlines/Trader-denies-selling-fake-designer.5323819.jp

 

 

 

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

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"Officials decided not to prosecute the pair because there were insufficient bags for it to be in the public interest. But Crown Prosecution Service solicitor Michael Cane-Soothill said the money should be forfeited as it was believed to have been made from "unlawful trading in counterfeit goods"."

 

That's pathetic. If someone is caught stealing a car do they not prosecute because it was only one car and not three or four ?

 

It looks like the CPS are trying to punish this guy without the expense of obtaining a conviction, wrong in principle and wrong in practice.

 

I don't think I would get very far claiming compensation for assault that hadn't resulted in a conviction just because the CPS 'believed' I had been assualted.

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We're talking about the 18K cash - not the 'goods'.

 

Where an application for the forfeiture of any cash is made under this section, the cash is to be detained (and may not be released under any power conferred by this Chapter) until any proceedings in pursuance of the application (including any proceedings on appeal) are concluded.

 

The CPS are not instituting any 'proceedings' so can't demand forfeiture.

 

Or should the police/CPS be allowed to interpret the law as they please ?

 

Catch 22.

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But looked at another way. If they take the 18k, it would be up to the trader to challenge this. He would have to provide a good case why he should keep it.

 

He's already got his head above the parapet so it might be worth him keeping his mouth shut. Challenging it may force the CPS to try and convict.

 

Sometimes you just need to take the hit and move on.

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Aged old rights such as Innocent until proved guilty, are being quietly done away with by the corrupt authoritarian scum that rule us.

 

Of course if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. You won't mind having your savings seized until you can prove where they came from etc. It's fair and just isn't it ? After all the authorities know what the are doing !

 

In the light of current revelations, how much validity does the mass of legisalation created by these people have ?

 

In't it time for a little civil disobedience.

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I'm reminded of this case that appeared in the Independent a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-holocaust-survivor-whose-savings-were-seized-by-the-police-1682657.html

 

It seems High Court judges and senior police offers are not immune to this kind of smash and grab.

 

Just make sure you can prove legal ownership of everything you own.

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But looked at another way. If they take the 18k, it would be up to the trader to challenge this. He would have to provide a good case why he should keep it.

 

 

In the absence of prosecution, he has the strongest conceivable case. He is an innocent man.

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