Proceeds of Crime Act gets more teeth

Legal Affairs Minister Ian Douglas
Legal Affairs Minister Ian Douglas

Persons who commit crime in Dominica can now have their property confiscated by the state if it is derived from the profits of criminal offense or was used to facilitate the commission of a crime.

Parliament on Thursday approved the Proceeds of Crime (amendment) Act 2013, Chapter 12:29 which went through all its readings in the House.

That bill received full support from all members of the House.

In presenting the bill before parliament, Tourism Minister and Minister for Legal Affairs Ian Douglas explained that the amendment to that piece of legislation was “necessary to conform with the changing times and what has been happening.”

Section 4 of the Act was “amended” and replaced by deleting Subsection One and substituting a new section which states, “where a person is convicted of a scheduled offence committed after the coming into force of this Act, on application of the Director of Public Prosecutions or if the Court considers it appropriate to do so, the Court may make one or both of the following orders:

“a forfeiture order against property that is tainted property and (b) a confiscation order against the person in respect of benefits derived by the person from the commission of scheduled offence or other criminal conduct.”

Parliament is now debating the amendment to the Money Laundering prevention Act no 18 of 2011 which has already been fully supported by former prime minister and leader of the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) Edison James.

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51 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    May 24, 2013

    good act hope it applies to everybody. they should start doing a drug test on police officers every 3 months , It have some of them using illegal substances

  2. Francisco Telemaque
    May 18, 2013

    Gary May 17, 2013
    To Francisco Etienne-Dods

    “Sometimes a point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substitutions are made regarding insight and understanding. One may understand the cosmos and hold multiple academic degrees but never understand the ego.”

    Gary, I read you the first time, however I selected to ignore you because your comments are so insignificant, in this case, and makes no sense in the context in which you have even become repetitive with it. I pay no attention to senseless rhetoric, because your ramblings does not pertain to me nor my characteristics.

    When you talk about ones ego you are referring one of three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person, and reality.

    Now if this is a test of my intelligence, let me assure you that I have also studied psychology, and Abnormal psychology at that: I can use it to mess your mind up if I wish. Nonetheless, I simply wish to impress on you that I am not an idiot, so I will teach you something which you do not know! When you are talking about persons ego, you are talking about the structure of their personality.

    The personality has three structures: the id, the ego, and the superego. One way to understand the three structures is to consider them as three rulers of a country. The id, is king or queen, the ego is prime minister, and the superego is high priest, or priestess. The id is an absolute monarch, owed complete obedience; it is spoiled, willful, and self-centered. The id wants what it wants right now, not later.

    The ego as prime minister has the job of getting things done; it is tuned into reality, and is responsive to society’s demands; the superego is concerned with right, and wrong; the id may be greedy, and needs to be told that nobler purposes should be pursued.

    Id actually is the structure of personality that consists of instincts, which are an individual’s reservoir of psychic energy; note the id is unconscious; it has no contact with reality; the id works according to the pleasure principal.and that is “the Freudian’ concept that the id always seeks pleasure, and avoids pain.

    Gary, I suggest you do not challenge me educationally, because I can draw circles around you that can mesmerized your mind and cause you to walk wandering looking up into space okay!

    You talking about my ego, you do not even know the meaning of the word, nor all it entails.

    Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque

  3. Gary
    May 17, 2013

    The Headline of the article quote “Proceeds of Crime Act gets more teeth” prompts me to ask a question rather than be excited that such Act or law has finally been passed.The question is what gives this Act teeth.The crime which the Act is supposed to combat is not your ordinary crime and the people who engage in such criminal activity can sometimes be sophisticated with International links and so I wonder if the Government has the apparatus in place to combat such crime, meaning a set of Investigators and Prosecutors trained to investigate and prosecute those involve in such crimes and that is what gives the Act teeth.

    I hope this is not just another Law on paper rushed to Parliament sounding good to appease sentiments in the fight against crime and so I hope the proper apparatus is in place to give this act teeth.

    • John Paul
      May 18, 2013

      Heh! and You notice those that commit all their crimes before that get a free pass.Now those who commit crimes will get the full punishment .Why Why Why ? it should apply immediately to all criminals that have judgements passed on them regardless when they commited the crime!Now that You have enriched Yourselves You putting stiffer penalties .Reminds me of the AG He get a waiver to make Him AG and now He not waivering for anybody else !

  4. Anonymous
    May 17, 2013

    Great Job Mr. Douglas! You keep trying your best and all you get is a bunch of whiners who don’t contribute to helping things in any way. I think that they are part of the problem. When these criminals see they have the support of these whiners, they just continue their crap. Listen from an outsider who loves Portsmouth, keep trying it’s your home and I do believe that you have the best interest of Dominica at heart.

  5. 1979
    May 16, 2013

    oh minister minister minister, who so ever diggeth the pit shall fall in it…. sigh…..i pray to one day see a little piggy caught by the toe in this piece of legislature, particularly these inside traders, using their powerful positions to siphon of jobs to heavy equipment owned by them, directly or indirectly……does the qualify as the commission of a crime??? I mean when u use ur position in public office to your personal benefit?? im jus a dumb dumb asking a question i think is relevant.

    • 1979
      May 17, 2013

      alas that allu fraid to post??? post it after the story (tory) reach the bottom of the page, after all this time, yall still full of it…

  6. squash
    May 16, 2013

    A very bad move for the present Govt. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: but they have no choice 8) …Eddo (rightfully) consents…so that he will make full use of this law when the UWP bounces back.

    • Honorary Dominican
      May 17, 2013

      What are you talking about…………are we on a different planet or the twilight zone?! :-? :(

      What would be as you say, “a very bad move”, when implementations are being put in place in order to counter the practice of money laundering and acquiring assets through illegal criminal activities in your island?!

      Are you for real…….? My country the (UK) and others like the (Canada), the (US)and numerous others are constantly implementing measures to stem the practice, yet you sit in judgement and rubbish the efforts, as if that isn’t anything to applaud.

      Absolutely unbelievable!!!!! Gobsmacked at ill-your ill-informed comments but cannot say I am at all surprised, particularly recalling the “negative,” “simplistic” attitudes of some Dominicans such as yourself.

  7. Lougaoo Mem
    May 16, 2013

    We’ve heard of properties owned by members of the House that are allegedly tainted, I mean properties which were allegedly acquired by fleecing and fraudulent means.

    If the Parliament is really serious, then they must let the IPO do their work and investigate who owns the villas. We have a very good idea who’s fooling who. OK!

  8. LCM
    May 16, 2013

    I am happy to see this law is being passed. However a law is no good if it is not enforced. It will require cooperation of the banks, registry, village council etc. It will also require the government to create a registration an licensing system for farmers, fishermen, masons, carpenters, etc. Without this additional system it is going to be difficult to prosecute some of those drug dealers who use these jobs as cover for there activities. This will require proper reporting of revenue from legit business for tax purposes. All i will say for now.

    • yes
      May 16, 2013

      good comment

    • May 16, 2013

      Is the law going to be applied to all the fat cats who are sitting high above or are they for the young foolish one who carry out the jobs for those fat cats …. is this goibng to be a one sided process.

    • Justice and Truth
      May 16, 2013

      What do you expect otherwise? They should know how to apply it. Since you have a vision on how this could be done, why not offer your opinions and suggestions to the authorities?

    • anonymous2
      May 17, 2013

      These laws are made for the little people, not those who consider themselves above the law and are never prosecuted and who get the profits. Many govt.s are involved in the dirty money.

  9. May 16, 2013

    more stupidy :?: :lol: :mrgreen:

  10. Francisco Telemaque
    May 16, 2013

    Anonymous May 16, 2013
    “This just shows how uninformed you are. Ian Douglas is the Minister of Tourism AND Legal Affairs.”

    Anonymous, with all things unequal in Dominica, though our people sees all things as equal, and since Dominica is the only place on earth where square pegs fits into round holes, and round pegs fits accurately into square holes, I guess one should not be surprised.

    I am not surprised at all to learn that Ian Douglas of all persons holds two ministerial portfolio’s, and functions so efficiently in both, that is why he is so effective talking crap everyday, nonetheless, I should not be amazed since I have come to recognized him as a genus, a master capable of reading upside down!

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

    And I mean that is in addition from benign capable of reading, and writing in the different directions as you know from the right side of the page to the left, I hear the reason he is capable of doing that is because he utilizes both the left, and right side of his brain simultaneously you see; something which humans are incapable of doing!

    So what can I say?

    Thanks for that bit of info Frenz.

    Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque

    • bwadiab
      May 16, 2013

      Franciso, your writing skills are so poor (sentence structure; subject and verb agreement…etc) it is difficult for me to fathom that you are that “super educated” person you claim to be. IMPOSSIBLE!!
      Please take some time to proofread your writing and make sure your ideas flow a little better. Maybe if you display a tad more humility, folks would take you more seriously.

      • Francisco Telemaque
        May 17, 2013

        See you in hell oui!

        Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

        I doh care.

        FET.

  11. Doc. Love
    May 16, 2013

    I wish to applaud DNO and DBS Radio for bringing the news concerning the Crime Acts to the people of Dominica,but we all know that this particular piece of legislation will remain toothless as long as the labor Party Government runs this country.For weeks Mr. Lennox Linton had been reporting that approximately $1 million were distributed to many Dominicans and Dominican businesses by a Lawyer. In some circles within Dominica, it was alleged that this money could be considered as a form of money laundering because of the concealment of the source of this money . The Prime Minister’s name had been brazenly called with reference to these allegations,we have never heard a denial for him. In my opinion,this money laundering amemdant prevention act is nothing but a toothless rottwieler.

    • Justice and Truth
      May 16, 2013

      Since when do Prime Ministers of countries respond directly to the general Media? This would be debasing themselves to respond to every wind that blows, criticisms and opinions. As Leaders, they must rise above that level. Do not expect any less from them and do not demean them for not acting according to your expectations. If there is an investigation, then they will respond.
      However, please do not downgrade this new Law before it takes effect and is applied. Too many of you love to do just this and negatively so. Hope that something good will come out of it for it is a worthwhile tool to fighting and eradicating crimes, the likes of which did not exist in Dominica in previous years. Give it your blessing.

    • I clean
      May 17, 2013

      Why dont you advise Lennox Linton to take the evidence he has to the police or are we now at a stage in our nation where we deal with such matters on talk shows.Then enjoy your talk show bro!!!

  12. Shameless
    May 16, 2013

    US Presshaa making you all move whether you like it or not! That legislation is a great piece long overdue. Those in power are grudgingly supporting this legislation knowing that their karkar boooyeeing. Finally, USA has spoken on our behalf.

    Assertive, NOT Agressive!

  13. MW-L
    May 16, 2013

    Hon. Ian Douglas is the best Minister for Tourism & Legal Affairs- from his Great team!

  14. Nkrumah Kwame
    May 16, 2013

    Good intention which deserves to be applauded. Nontheless, I would sincerely hope that existing legislation would also be amended to include the acceptance of evidence by VIDEO. We need to modernize ALL our laws to be in tunes with the times. Thanks.

  15. looking 4 good men
    May 16, 2013

    Fet overlooked the fact but he ain’t no fool either.
    Fet has his beef or pork with many but sometmes or most times he is bang on target.
    The comedy of such a bill passing in the house exposes the triple standards of D/can society.
    There you have clear to all and sundry agov’t helping it’s self.Look at the ministers and friends.The kind of houses they have is apart from unnecessay in a small island state like DA.The rides they have don’t make sense.
    Now all the corruption in and out of Gov’t currently in DA goes on unbridled.How can a man build Villas worth millions be it EC $,US Sterlin,euros ,francs or even yen pay for the mortgage by catching crabs?How can a poor boy who don’t know his ass from his tail suddenly become a millionaire.This is just the tip of the iceberg.
    If this law is worth the cost of the paper t is written on then all the ministers lawyers who support and allow/facilitate it’s survival need to have their properties confiscated.
    Isn’t tht what happened in Cuba in 1959? Some of the enablers know the history of cuba better than many of us.Today it suits them well to dabble in the same corruption they criticised before.
    Their are people are in high office( and shameless at that who change party more frequently than they change their under garments.
    The fouque black and brown but they holding offic cammem.These are the low lives the low hanging fruits. Lower than anything tht crawls the surface of the earth.
    I hope someone will come along who will impliment the laws that those who already have and think they are free and escaped.I will live to see that day.Put all those good 4 nothings together in jail cocoa tea and pig snout and bakes 3/day 7/week.Ask those politicians who hae gone down that road.

  16. Marx
    May 16, 2013

    Before we comment please see the significance of this Act!

  17. stehen
    May 16, 2013

    talk talk talk talk that is all it is just talk these government in office is there helping themselves and their inner circle

  18. str8
    May 16, 2013

    thats the spirit. i like to see both sides agree on something

    • Justice and Truth
      May 16, 2013

      Like what? :twisted:

  19. Francisco Telemaque
    May 16, 2013

    Well, you know sometimes even I believe that I am crazy, off the rocks, gone nuts, but right now I need to go to look in some mirror to see if the face I went to bed with last night is one of the same this morning.

    Wondering Why?

    here is my confusion, one minute I read where Ian Douglas is the great minister of tourism, the next minuet the same man who reads from right to left, and from the bottom of the page to the top is now minister of legal affairs:

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

    What position does he hold in the government?

    Anyway if a law is established to be used to confiscate the property of people obtained by illegal means, bought with illegal drugs money or thievery, that is a very good Law.

    However, the politicians, of the day, and in the future should also come under scrutiny. If it is observed that a politician working for a government minister’s pay, owns assets in the millions of dollars, which they salary cannot substantiate, then they too should loose their property.

    Too often we find people in our country, before politics, their main means of transportation was on foot, all of a sudden when they became minister of something we find them driving motor vehicles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    We find them building multimillion dollar homes, and owning plenty of land all over the country, on closer look at their living expensive’s, their honest salary we will discover the only way they could have accumulate so much money in such short space of time is because they are involved into something illegal, in most case thievery, accepting bribe, and obtaining money in all sorts of illegal way.

    This must stop and I hope in this write low there are no immunity clause intended to protect the rouge and dirty politicians.

    Francisco Etienne-Dods elemaque

    • Anonymous
      May 16, 2013

      This just shows how uninformed you are. Ian Douglas is the Minister of Tourism AND Legal Affairs.

      • looking 4 good men
        May 16, 2013

        what is your pt you have not contributed.You’ve only showing ur colours.You are one of those anonymous ones hope you can remain anonymous when we come to confiscate urs.(if you have) lol we will take ur boute chambre too lol

      • May 16, 2013

        And the worst one ever

    • love to you
      May 16, 2013

      look who’s talking, with a minister’s salary slip they can receive up to a million dollars in loan which can afford them to drive a vehicle and have a big mansion, so my question to you is that whether or not a must not elevate? we leaving in modern times come on. little cleaners going to work driving transport no one asks them where they get it. a minister drawing how much thousands a month u want to question that. on the other hand i support the motion that they may also have to be put under scrutiny ok.mr. Dods

    • flower
      May 16, 2013

      live space for someone else, you all long writers stop. Three to four line can tell a whole story

    • Student
      May 16, 2013

      Maybe he has two portfolios. Lets hope that someone can clear that up for us soon.

      • Student
        May 16, 2013

        @ Anonymous -Thanks for clearing that up.

    • Frenz
      May 16, 2013

      FET as dumb as it sounds The ministry of Legal affairs and ztourism is tied together. But then again we ave a minister of community development and one of constituent affairs.

    • Francisco Telemaque
      May 16, 2013

      This must stop and I hope in this “write low” there are no immunity clause intended to protect the rouge and dirty politicians.

      That should be “I hope in this written law, there are no immunity clause intended to protect the dirty politicians.

      Secondly, in the third paragraph, “here” the ‘h’ should be capitalized, so I do not wish to here I do not know how to write oui!

      Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque

    • Shameless
      May 16, 2013

      FET you right. If he is Minister of Legal Affairs & Tourism DNO should list it as such. But doh fool you head. The powers that be will NEVER make the law retroactive so that they are at least scott free prior to it becoming effective. At least they are thinking ahead this time. That may also be a deal struck with the USA in order for them to save face.

      Assertive, NOT Agressive!

    • Gary
      May 17, 2013

      Sometimes a point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substitutions are made regarding insight and understanding. One may understand the cosmos and hold multiple academic degrees but never understand the ego.

    • Gary
      May 17, 2013

      To Francisco Etienne-Dods

      Sometimes a point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substitutions are made regarding insight and understanding. One may understand the cosmos and hold multiple academic degrees but never understand the ego.

  20. Zicack Girl
    May 16, 2013

    Good idea

  21. Anonymous
    May 16, 2013

    Way to go! Now let’s see what’s going to happen in the case of all then young dudes that are driving around in RAV’s etc and are EMPLOYED NO WHERE.

    • real Possie
      May 16, 2013

      Crimes before the act will not be considered- hw convenient

      • real possie
        May 16, 2013

        hmmm nice try who ever u are

      • I clean
        May 17, 2013

        boss the Act was already on the books ok, an Amendment was made to give it more effect, please resd and understand? Amendment , a change, an addition or replacing o section with a new section.Maybe now you can comment again.

    • Reon
      May 16, 2013

      Young dudes?? What about the political leaders and men in high office?? Do you also want to see what will happen to them????

  22. hope
    May 16, 2013

    Excellent!

  23. Tyre hit de road
    May 16, 2013

    Excellent Conversation !!

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