Prohibited dealings
50 Prohibited dealings
A person must not deal with seized or frozen property in any way.
Penalty: $100 000 or the value of the property, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for 5 years, or both.
Subsection (1) does not apply to —
a person acting in accordance with an order under section 45(c), 91(2) or 93(2); or
in the case of seized property — a police officer acting under section 33, or a person acting under the direction of a police officer who is acting in accordance with this Act; or
in the case of frozen property — a person acting in accordance with the freezing notice or freezing order.
It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) in relation to seized property if the accused establishes that he or she did not know, and can not reasonably be expected to have known, that the property was being retained or guarded under section 33(2) at the relevant time.
It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (1) in relation to frozen property if the respondent establishes that he or she did not know, and can not reasonably be expected to have known, that the freezing notice or freezing order was in force at the material time.
Subsection (1) does not prevent a person from being dealt with for a contempt of the court for a contravention of a freezing order, but the person is not punishable for both a contempt and an offence under subsection (1) arising from the same contravention.
[Section 50 amended: No. 84 of 2004 s. 82.]
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