Confiscating the cash of people who haven't been convicted of a crime

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 536.

Snatch and grab

Reading 4

Writing

Write a composition which starts: `It could happen to anyone. I had decided to spend the day in . . .' and ends: 'My life has never been the same since.'

It took the police almost 20 years to nab John Palmer, nicknamed "Goldfinger", following his acquittal for masterminding the f26m ($39m) Brinks-Mat gold bullion robbery. When the law finally caught up with Mr Palmer in May 2000, he was jailed for eight years for a timeshare fraud. Ever since, the authorities have been trying in vain to confiscate f33m of his assets.

Cases such as this have led the govern­ment to set up the Assets Recovery Agency this week to confiscate wealth it believes was ill-gotten. The new agency will not have to prove that a criminal offence has been committed, only that it is probable that assets were acquired illegally. The onus will be on the owner of the flashy villa and the yacht in Northern Cyprus to show that these were acquired honestly.

The police have hailed it as an impor­tant weapon against a group of around 150 super-criminals who they claim are, in ef­fect, untouchable under current laws. "They don't commit crimes themselves, they manage criminal enterprises," says Sir David Phillips, chief constable of Kent.

The British Assets Recovery Agency is modelled closely on the success of the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), set up in 1996. It claims that in its first four years of operation the bosses of six organised crime groups fled the country to escape its clutches. An early success was the leader of a heroin gang that had an estimated an­nual turnover of f2m a year. When the bu­reau targeted properties registered in his fa­ther's name, he fled abroad and his busi­ness fell apart. America has the longest established asset recovery programme, which produces more than $150m a year.

Seizing assets allegedly acquired through crime without requiring criminal standards of proof represents a big exten­sion of state powers. That does not worry the home secretary, David Blunlcett. "If we can't convict the buggers, let's deny them their ill-gotten gains," says one Home Of­fice adviser. But John Wadham, director of Liberty, a civil rights group, says that this amounts to "a violation of the presump­tion of innocence". Michael Levi, professor of criminology at Cardiff University, says the new law is bound to be challenged under human rights legislation.

Even if the British recovery agency survives the scrutiny of the European Court, it may not achieve a great deal. Its target for recoveries over the next three years is a modest f60m - which won't make much of a dent in the f18 billion of assets which the National Criminal Intelligence Service estimates have been acquired criminally. A study by the Council of Europe says there is no evidence that America's recovery programme has made much impact on organised crime. Career criminals quickly learn how to put their assets beyond the reach of both the law and their fellow villains.

Ex.5.17. Match the words in the following table as they occur together in the article above, give the Russian for the word combinations and compose your own sentences with them and the words from the two exercises below. Ask your groupmates to translate your sentences from Russian into English.

Ex.5.18. In the article above, find words which mean:

1) to plan and/or direct a scheme, etc

2) (infml) to catch sb doing sth wrong; to arrest sb

3) to give an informal name to sb

4) sb/sth (as) sthto acknowledge sb/sth as sth

5) [sing] (fml) a duty or responsibility for doing sth

6) (usu derog) unpleasantly big, bright, decorated etc, and perhaps not of good quality

7) the action of deceiving sb in order to make money illegally

8) (on sb/sth)a strong impression or effect on sb/sth

9) (fig) an effect on sth

10) (adverb) stated without being proved

11) the action of gaining sth

12) to obtain or gain sth

13) (usu pl) things, especially property owned by a person, company, etc, that has value and can be used or sold to pay debts

14) (fml) careful and thorough examination

15) oneself/sth on sb/sthto take sb/sth as an example for one's action, plans, etc

Word Building 2

Ex.5.19. Fill in building the words (adjectives, nouns or phrasal verbs) taken from the article above. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1) As long as he stays in South America, he is ……touch……. by the British authorities.

2) Go on in front. I'll soon catch …… …… you.

3) The firm has an annual turn…… of $75 million.

4) The deal fell …… when we failed to agree on a price.

5) A government committee has been set …… to look into the problems of drug abuse.

6) Putting these young men into prison alongside ……-criminals is the surest way to make them reoffend.

7) Their marriage finally fell …… .

8) Why does the firm has such a rapid turn……. of staff?

9) After missing a term through illness he had to work hard to catch …… …… the others.

10) The company has set …… several new branches in Scotland.

11) It's a shame that he enjoys his ……-gotten gains, and the police cannot nab him!

12) A fund will be set …… for the dead men's families.

Word Building 3

Ex.5.20. In the article above, the word ill-gotten (gains) was used. The combination

ill + [verb or noun] + ed (pp)