ASSET FORFEITURE LITIGATION ///

The High Court, in a landmark case recently, ruled that properties valued over P60 million Pula were proceeds of crime and ordered that they be forfeited to the State.

Can you have your asset forfeited to the state when you have not been convicted (found guilty), or even tried, for any offence? The answer to this question is a resounding yes. This is referred to as the Non-conviction based forfeiture.

• What do you do when the state has a restraining order against your property?
• Perhaps your are an innocent third party and you find yourself, by extension, in forfeiture litigation, what is next?
• Or maybe your account has been ‘’frozen” via an order of court
You need not worry, your forfeiture lawyers are here.

Forfeiture is the legal process by which title to an asset is transferred to the government, without compensation, because that asset was derived from, used to facilitate, or involved in criminal conduct in a manner that subjects it to forfeiture under an applicable asset forfeiture statute. In Botswana, the relevant legislation is the Proceeds and Instruments of Crimes Act 02 1014, as amended in 2018. The State can obtain title to the asset upon obtaining, for example, a judgment of forfeiture in civil forfeiture proceedings.

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