New Zealand empowers police to seize illicit assets of criminal gangs

ANKARA (AA) - New Zealand introduced a new law to empower police to seize the illicit assets of organized criminal groups and their associates, officials said on Monday.

In a statement issued by Justice Minister Kiri Allan, the government is providing additional tools to eliminate crimes and protect communities.

“The new amendments to the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act will ensure if someone is associated with an organized criminal group and it is suspected they couldn’t have funded their assets legitimately, then they can now be required to prove to the court how they came to possess them – or face having them seized,” said Allan.

The amendments approved by the Cabinet empowered police to target the associates of organized criminal groups and restrain their property.

“A new court order that will mean criminals based overseas who have assets in New Zealand will face losing those assets unless they can provide proof within two months that they obtained their property legally," according to the new amendments.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins said the government brought these changes after investigators told them that the use of intermediaries, third parties, relatives, or friends is a feature of many cases which they investigated.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid