Confiscation orders for benefits derived from criminal conduct
5.—(1) Subject to section 27, where a defendant is convicted of one or more serious offences, the court shall, on the application of the Public Prosecutor, make a confiscation order against the defendant in respect of benefits derived by him from criminal conduct if the court is satisfied that such benefits have been so derived.
(2) If the court is satisfied that benefits have been derived by the defendant from criminal conduct, the court shall, at any time after sentencing or otherwise dealing with him in respect of the offence or, as the case may be, any of the offences concerned, determine in accordance with section 10 the amount to be recovered in his case by virtue of this section.
(3) The court shall not take into account any application or proposed application for a confiscation order in determining the appropriate sentence or other manner of dealing with the defendant in respect of the serious offences concerned.
(4) Where the court which convicted the defendant is for any reason unable to determine the amount to be recovered under subsection (2), the determination and confiscation order, if any, may be made by the Registrar.
(5) Any relevant evidence admitted in the proceedings against the defendant for the serious offence concerned shall, if the court or the Registrar thinks fit, be taken into account in determining the amount to be recovered under subsection (2) or (4).
(6) Without prejudice to section 28, for the purposes of this Act, a person who holds or has at any time (whether before or after 13th September 1999) held any property or any interest therein (including income accruing from such property or interest) disproportionate to his known sources of income, the holding of which cannot be explained to the satisfaction of the court, shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have derived benefits from criminal conduct.
(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), any expenditure by a person referred to in that subsection (whether incurred before or after 13th September 1999) shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been met out of his benefits derived from criminal conduct.
(8) The presumption referred to in subsection (6) shall not be rebutted merely by adducing proof to the effect that the property or interest therein (including income accruing from such property or interest) was derived from drug dealing.
