Call made for civil asset forfeiture law

Martin Kenney, a member of the global ICC FraudNet organisation, is calling for a new civil asset forfeiture law as well as tweaks to the territory’s existing business legislation.

Mr. Kenney said civil asset forfeiture – through which law enforcers can seize property from people suspected of criminal activity without necessarily securing a conviction against them – could be used to target bad actors who misuse VI companies from abroad.

“Pass a law that allows [the government] to get in the game of forfeiting – taking the proceeds of corruption – to the extent that some small number of BVI companies are being used for these kinds of grandly illicit purposes,” advised the attorney, who heads the VI-based asset-recovery law firm Martin Kenney & Co.

Mr. Kenney said the recommended reform originated with a proposed bill his firm helped draft about 12 years ago at the request of the then-governor. Since then, such legislation has been promised occasionally in successive governments’ annual Speeches from the Throne, including in January 2023.

The new law, Mr. Kenney said, should include provisions similar to sections of the United Kingdom’s Proceeds of Crime Act dealing with unexplained wealth orders.

“All this is is a way in which a statute could be enacted, called the Civil Asset Forfeiture Act, coupled with an unexplained wealth order jurisdiction, to allow our courts and our attorney general to move forward and seek the forfeiture of the proceeds of crime, corruption and fraud happening abroad but using BVI companies either to take money illicitly or hiding it,” he explained.

He added that the proposed law could bring a significant boost to the government’s treasury.

“Even in a small case, $40 million recovery would be 10 percent of our public budget,” he said. “And why not? What does it cost to pass the statute?”