New laws to confiscate proceeds of crime and unexplained wealth

The legislation will give police and the NSW Crime Commission new powers to confiscate unexplained wealth and the proceeds of crime.

The world-leading legislation targets encrypted devices and money laundering and is designed to strike organised crime activity at its financial base.

The reforms will give law enforcement officers powers to stop criminal gangs from profiting from their actions and incapacitate them financially.

The full package of organised crime reforms includes new powers to confiscate unlawfully acquired assets of major convicted drug traffickers and enhanced powers to target and confiscate unexplained wealth.

It will also expand already existing powers to stop and search for unexplained wealth and more effectively investigate organised crime and has introduced new money laundering offences for those dealing with and caught trying to disguise the proceeds of general crime.

A new offence that prohibits the possession of a dedicated encrypted criminal communication device (DECCD) — and orders to target high-risk individuals likely to use them has also been added.

Police will also now have the power to direct a person to provide access to a digital device, which is akin to gaining the keys to a safe.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said this new legislation will support law enforcement in their crackdown on organised criminal networks.

“Having the ability to confiscate unexplained wealth will strengthen our ability to severely hinder the lifestyle of organised criminal networks and ultimately allow us to get to the lifeblood of organised crime — money,” she said.

“We are committed to using every power available to us to infiltrate and disrupt these networks and put those suspected of serious crimes before the courts.”