ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the state of affairs with regard to confiscation in cases of environmental crime at the beginning of 2015, as well as success and failure factors that could lead to recommendations for improvement. It aims to provide insight into current developments in the Netherlands with regard to the confiscation of assets in environmental crime cases. Since the beginning of the 1990s, criminal investigation in the Netherlands has increasingly focused on confiscation of perpetrators' illegally obtained income and assets. Financial investigation requires advanced financial and administrative expertise, because the illegal activities are usually intertwined with the legitimate activities of the company. Emphasis put on financial investigation resulted in a paradigm shift in the approach to environmental crime cases. A number of points must be considered when an investigation into environmental crime is launched. An investigating team concludes its financial investigation at the point when the case file is handed over to the Public Prosecution Service.
