ReageraMera

21 november skrev jag bland annat om det framgångsrika arbete som den 1996 inrättade irländska CAB (Criminal Assets Bureau bedriver för att med hjälp av tillgänglig lagstiftning beröva kriminella så mycket som möjligt av de rikedomar som de roffat åt sig genom sin kriminella verksamhet.

Jag har nu läst CAB:s årsrapport för 2006 och konstaterar att också år 2006 varit mycket framgångsrikt för byrån.

Under 2006 förverkade byrån totalt 205 miljoner kronor till statskassan.

Byrån etablerades 1996 i enlighet med innehållet i The Criminal Assets Bureau Act. 2005 kompletterades The Criminal Assets Bureau Act med The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act, vars fjärde och femte delar ytterligare tydliggör byråns uppgifter.

Av fjärde och femte delen framgår:

4. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the objectives of the Bureau shall be:

?a)     the identification of assets, wherever situated, of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct

?b)     the taking of appropriate action under the law to deprive or to deny those persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate, and

?c)     the pursuit of any investigation or the doing of any other preparatory work in relation to any proceedings arising from the objectives mentioned in paragraphs a) and b).

5. 1 Without prejudice to the generality of section 4, the functions of the Bureau, operating through its Bureau officers, shall be the taking of all necessary actions

?a)     in accordance with Garda [Irish police] functions, for the purposes of, the confiscation, restraint of use, freezing, preservation or seizure of assets identified as deriving, or suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct.

?b)     Under the Revenue Acts or any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue, to ensure that the proceeds of conduct or suspected criminal conduct are subjected to tax and that the Revenue Acts, where appropriate, are fully applied in relation to such proceeds or conducts, as the case may be,

?c)     Under the Social Welfare Acts for the investigation and determination, as appropriate, of any claim for or in respect of benefit (within the meaning of section 204 of the social welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993) by any person engaged in criminal conduct, and

?d)     At the request of the Minister for Social Welfare, to investigate and determine, as appropriate, any claim for or in respect of a benefit, within the meaning of section 204 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, where the Minister for Social Welfare certifies that there are reasonable grounds for believing that, in the case of a particular investigation, officers of the Minister for Social welfare may be subject to threats or other forms of indtimidation,

And such actions include, where appropriate, subject to any international agreement, cooperation with any police force, or any authority, being an authority with functions related to the recovery of proceeds of crime, a tax authority or social security authority, of a territory or state other than the State.

2. In relation to the matters referred to in subsection 1), nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting or restricting in any way

?a)     The powers or the duties of the Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners or the Minister for Social Welfare, or

?b)     The functions of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Chief State Solicitor.

Av lagstiftningen framgår tydligt syftet med ett tvärsektoriellt samarbete över myndighetsgränserna.

Per den 31 december 2006 hade CAB totalt 55 anställda, representerande olika myndigheter och kompetenser:

1 Chief Bureau Officer

1 Bureau Legal officer

10 Administrative (Technical and Professional)

4 Social Welfare Bureau Officers

8 Revenue Bureau Officers

31 Garda Burau Officers

Något för Sverige?

Torgny Peterson