Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996 (Act No. 76 of 1996)

Chapter 2 : Confiscation orders

12. Presumptions relating to proceeds of crime

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(1)For the purposes of an enquiry under section 8(1) and, if it is found that the defendant did not at the fixed date, or since the beginning of a period of seven years before the fixed date, have legitimate sources of income sufficient to justify the interests in any property that the defendant holds, in determining whether the defendant has derived a benefit from an offence or related criminal activity, it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that such interests form part of  such a benefit.

 

(2)For the purposes of an enquiry under section 8(1) and, if it is found that a court had ordered the defendant to disclose any facts under section 16(7) and that the defendant had without sufficient cause failed to disclose such facts or had, after being so ordered, furnished false information, knowing such information to be false or not believing it to be true, it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, in determining—
(a)whether the defendant has derived a benefit from an offence, that any property to which the information relates, forms part of such a benefit; and
(b)the value of his or her proceeds of crime, that any property to which the information relates, is held by the defendant as a payment or reward in connection with the offence or related criminal activity.

 

(3)For the purposes of an enquiry under section 8(1) and, if it is found that a defendant has benefited from an offence in determining the value of his or her proceeds of crime, it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary that—
(a)any property—
(i)held by him or her at any time at, or since, his or her conviction; or
(ii)transferred to him or her at any time since the beginning of a period of seven years before the fixed date,

was received by him or her at the earliest time at which he or she held it, as a payment or other reward in connection with the offence or any related criminal activity committed by him or her;

(b)any expenditure incurred by him or her since the beginning of the period contemplated in paragraph (a) was met out of payments received by him or her in connection with the offence or any related criminal activity committed by him or her;  and
(c)for the purpose of determining the value of any property—
(i)received by him or her at any time as a reward in connection with the offence or any related criminal activity committed by him or her or by any other person; or
(ii)presumed in terms of paragraph (a) to have been received by him or her as a reward in connection with the offence or any related criminal activity committed by him or her,

he or she received that property free of any other interest therein.