Pan-European legislation will target wealthy criminals’ assets

Criminals gangs in Europe target various EU states to hide much of their €135bn yearly haul, handing it over to relatives or investing it in legitimate businesses.

But new pan-European legislation, similar to Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau, aims to confiscate goods and money, even if the original owner is dead or the authorities cannot prove how people came by their ill-gotten gains.

European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström outlined a case involving Irish and British criminals as an example of what could be achieved.