12 – What is taken from criminals should be given to their victims

If you’re caught stealing you’re given a punishment for the crime: say you go to prison or you pay a fine.

But that’s not all. You don’t get to keep what you stole. You have to give that back.

The victims of organised crime and complex financial crime are not just the people criminals steal from.

They steal from the wider community, choking legitimate businesses with unfair competition, reducing their neighbours’ quality of life with over-development, and costing people more in taxes and fees to pay for public services they monopolise through bribery and corruption.

When organised criminals are convicted the wealth which is taken away from them should not all be lost in the state coffers.

What’s taken away from crime should be given to victims, to the community, and to social enterprises who in place of the greed of the criminals create work to improve the lives of their neighbours.

Malta’s record of confiscating assets from crime is very poor. The system is inefficient and in any case convictions are rare. We should fix that first.

The law that allows authorities to confiscate wealth gained through crime should be properly implemented.

The confiscated wealth should be given back to the community for social initiatives that compensate the community for the damage done to it by criminals.

Written by Manuel Delia
Video Production & Voiceover: Michael Kaden