Under Aussie RICO acts.
Organised crime bosses would have their assets seized, even if police could
not establish a direct link between them and any specific offence, under a
Coalition government.
Under anti-organised crime laws which the Opposition Leader, John Brogden,
said would be the toughest in the country, individual criminals also could
be prosecuted for the actions of gang associates.
"At the moment, police in NSW can raid a drug house and make arrests for
drug dealing but they have great difficulty in then prosecuting the
organised crime figures who run those drug houses," Mr Brogden said.
"The Coalition will give police the powers not only to put those crime
figures in jail, but also to seize all their criminal assets."
The asset seizure legislation would be based on Western Australian law
which lays on the owner the burden of proof that assets have been legally
obtained.
Another Coalition policy announced yesterday is based on the RICO
(Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organisation) statute used in the US to
fight organised crime.
Tailoring RICO laws to NSW would allow police to use evidence gathered
about the activities of an entire criminal organisation against any
individual member of the group.
"The combination of these two laws mean that under a Liberal government,
and only under a Liberal government, NSW will have the toughest
anti-organised crime laws in the nation," Mr Brogden said.
The asset seizure legislation would be used to target "a bloke who doesn't
work but happens to own a couple of mansions and a few Ferraris", who
police or the Director of Public Prosecutions believed to be a crime boss.
"We'll hunt them down, we'll strip them of their assets and we'll put them
back where they should be," Mr Brogden said. "We want to throw them out of
their houses. We want to sell their cars. We want to sell their jewellery.
"We'll do whatever it takes to strip them of their assets and we'll give
that money back to the police, so the police can use it to catch more
criminals in NSW."
Mr Brogden expected criminal assets worth millions of dollars to be seized
annually in NSW. In Western Australia, assets worth more than $21 million
were seized in 16 months.
Police would already know the identities of some of those who could be hit
by the laws; they just needed the power to "join the dots".
"It's often not too hard," Mr Brogden said. "You talk to police. You talk
to police commanders. They know who the Mr Bigs are.
"They just can't get at them because they're cleverly masked and hidden
behind the law. They've got a dotted line but because of weak laws in NSW
they can't make a straight line. We'll help them to make a straight line."
The Police Minister, Michael Costa, said the state already had an effective
criminal assets confiscation scheme, with more than $50 million being
seized since 1997.
That money, he said, was being used to fund projects and organisations that
fight crime or support victims of crime and their families.
Mr Costa said that the Opposition police spokesman, Andrew Tink, had last
month criticised plans to allow police to use assets confiscated from
criminals.
"The Opposition is confused," Mr Costa said. "Today, John Brogden announced
a policy his own spokesman clearly does not support. This shows the
Opposition is prepared to promise anything for a headline."
http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/17/1047749720485.html
