Cap. 621 Art. 19Administrationand disposal of forfeited property, and of property confiscated in favour of the Government. 

(1) Where any property has by a final judgement of a court been forfeited or confiscated in favour of the Government, it shall be incumbent on the Registrar of such court to inform the Bureau of such forfeiture or confiscation and to transmit to the Bureau a copy of the judgement, ordering the forfeiture or confiscation or in virtue of which the forfeiture or confiscation has taken place.

(2) The said Registrar shall moreover hand over to the Bureau any property so forfeited or confiscated and, or any title to such property that may be in the possession of the court.

(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of any other law providing for forfeiture as a consequence of a conviction for a criminal offence, the confiscation in favour of the Government of all property subject to confiscation pertaining to a person found guilty of a relevant offence is a civil consequence of any such conviction, and does not need to be pronounced in the judgement finding his guilt. Where such confiscation includes the proceeds of crime, it is not limited only to proceeds deriving from the offence to which the judgement refers, but extends to the proceeds of other relevant offences shown on a balance of the probabilities to have been committed by the same person.

(4) (a) Where any property so forfeited or confiscated consists of money in a currency other than the euro it shall be converted to euro at the rate of exchange in force.

(b) When such property consists of objects or other assets, it shall be disposed of by the Bureau in a manner that ensures the greatest benefit to the Government.

(5) Proceeds from the disposal of any property by the Bureau shall be transferred by the Director to the Consolidated Fund or to such other fund which may be set up by regulations made by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for finance for use in support of efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism as soon as may be after receipt:

Provided that such portion of, or such sum derived from such proceeds, as may be determined in the estimates approved by the Minister, may be retained by the Bureau as a reserve to cover on-going and future expenses.

(6) The Bureau shall also be entitled, with the authorisation of the Civil Court (Asset Recovery Section), to take possession of and manage, value, maintain and administer property which is frozen and in the process of being confiscated and to sell such property which is of a perishable nature or which requires substantial expense to maintain or is subject to substantial depreciation. For this purpose the Bureau may be assisted by its contractors or outsourced professionals.

(7) For the purposes provided for in sub-article (6), the Bureau may enter into contracts for the storage and maintenance of property seized or frozen, and may pay compensation to appraisers, experts and other professionals who may be engaged to assist the Bureau in establishing the value, and make arrangements for, or coordinating the sale, the transfer, or the assignment of such property either before or after a final judgment is delivered.