Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator
TAXING THE assets of persons who gain wealth through illegal means emerged, yesterday as one of a number of recommendations submitted to a joint select committee of Parliament deliberating the Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Dr. Anthony Kennedy, head of legal operations, in Northern Ireland, for the Assets Recovery Agency of the United Kingdom, told committee members, yesterday, that, if it can be proven that a criminal suspect has an income for which he has not paid taxes, the authorities should move in and collect the amounts due in the normal way.
"The normal way includes, not only paying up the amount of tax you should have paid, but also a certain amount of interest on the tax you should have paid and the penalty for not paying it at the right time," he said.
Outlining the United Kingdom experience, Dr. Kennedy said, however, that the Proceeds of Crime legislation is far from perfect and the taxation component needs a number of amendments to make it more effective.
EVIDENCE OF INVOLVEMENT
He said the first and most appropriate method, if there is evidence of involvement in criminal activity, is to try and get a conviction in the criminal courts.
Committee chairman, Dr. Peter Phillips, said the Government
was moving with urgency to have the Proceeds of Crime Bill considered and passed by Parliament. However, at present, the legislation has significant limitations and requires remedial work.
The Memorandum of Objects and Reasons for the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2005, states that there are many serious crimes which are outside the scope of the law. At present, the Jamaican courts have no power to authorise the confiscation of assets or benefits that are derived from the general criminal lifestyle of the defendant, as opposed to specific criminal acts evidenced by a conviction.
Turning to resources and training, Dr. Kennedy said that, in addition to investigators, forensic accountancy expertise is pivotal.
"Forensic accountancy expertise is an absolute must, because investigators in my experience are good at gathering the information but it is a very different skill to analyse that information in a way to present it as evidence before a court," he said.
The Assets Recovery Agency is an independent non-ministerial government department. The police and customs bring cases to the agency for its investigation in terms of proceeds of crime.
