Recital 32

(32) In situations where the confiscation measures in Articles 12 to 15 are not applied for legal or factual reasons determined by national law, it should still be possible to confiscate property that has been identified or, where the national legal system requires freezing, frozen in the context of an investigation in relation to a criminal offence based on indications that the property could be derived from criminal conduct. Such property should be confiscated where the court is satisfied that the property is derived from criminal conduct committed within the framework of a criminal organisation and where this conduct is liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to substantial economic benefit. When determining whether criminal conduct is liable to give rise to substantial economic benefit, Member States can take into account all relevant circumstances, including the modus operandi, for example if a condition of the offence is that it was committed in the context of organised crime or with the intention of generating regular profits from criminal offences. Member States should enable confiscation of such unexplained wealth when the investigation in which the property was identified concerns an offence falling within the scope of this Directive that is punishable by deprivation of liberty of a maximum of at least four years. That condition ensures that the possibility of confiscation of unexplained wealth arises in criminal investigations into criminal offences that meet a certain threshold of seriousness.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-09-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.