Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010
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Presumptions and other matters. |
11.— (1) In this section “specified conduct” means any of the following acts referred to in section 7 (1) (including section 7 (1) as applied by section 8 or 9 ): | |
(a) concealing or disguising the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of property, or any rights relating to property; | ||
(b) converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using property; | ||
(c) removing property from, or bringing property into, the State or a place outside the State. | ||
(2) In proceedings for an offence under section 7 , 8 or 9 , where an accused has engaged, or attempted to engage, in specified conduct in relation to property that is the proceeds of criminal conduct, in circumstances in which it is reasonable to conclude that the accused— | ||
(a) knew or believed the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct, or | ||
(b) was reckless as to whether or not the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct, | ||
the accused is presumed to have so known or believed, or been so reckless, unless the court or jury, as the case may be, is satisfied, having regard to the whole of the evidence, that there is a reasonable doubt that the accused so knew or believed or was so reckless. | ||
(3) In proceedings for an offence under section 7 , 8 or 9 , where an accused has engaged in, or attempted to engage in, specified conduct in relation to property in circumstances in which it is reasonable to conclude that the property is the proceeds of criminal conduct, those circumstances are evidence that the property is the proceeds of criminal conduct. | ||
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), circumstances in which it is reasonable to conclude that property is the proceeds of criminal conduct include any of the following: | ||
(a) the value of the property concerned is, it is reasonable to conclude, out of proportion to the income and expenditure of the accused or another person in a case where the accused engaged in the specified conduct concerned on behalf of, or at the request of, the other person; | ||
(b) the specified conduct concerned involves the actual or purported purchase or sale of goods or services for an amount that is, it is reasonable to conclude, out of proportion to the market value of the goods or services (whether the amount represents an overvaluation or an undervaluation); | ||
(c) the specified conduct concerned involves one or more transactions using false names; | ||
(d) the accused has stated that he or she engaged in the specified conduct concerned on behalf of, or at the request of, another person and has not provided information to the Garda Síochána enabling the other person to be identified and located; | ||
(e) where an accused has concealed or disguised the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of the property, or any rights relating to the property, the accused has no reasonable explanation for that concealment or disguise. | ||
(5) Nothing in subsection (4) limits the circumstances in which it is reasonable to conclude, for the purposes of subsection (3), that property is the proceeds of criminal conduct. | ||
(6) Nothing in this section prevents subsections (2) and (3) being applied in the same proceedings. | ||
(7) Subsections (2) to (6) extend to proceedings for an offence under— | ||
(a) section 10 , or | ||
(b) section 7(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence under section 7 , 8 or 9 , | ||
and for that purpose any reference to an accused in subsections (2) to (6) is to be construed as a reference to a person who committed, or is alleged to have committed, the offence concerned. | ||
(8) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, or an offence under section 7(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 referred to in subsection (7)(b), it is not necessary, in order to prove that property is the proceeds of criminal conduct, to establish that— | ||
(a) a particular offence or a particular class of offence comprising criminal conduct was committed in relation to the property, or | ||
(b) a particular person committed an offence comprising criminal conduct in relation to the property. | ||
(9) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, or an offence under section 7 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 referred to in subsection (7)(b), it is not a defence for the accused to show that the accused believed the property concerned to be the proceeds of a particular offence comprising criminal conduct when in fact the property was the proceeds of another offence. |