LAW chiefs are allowing hearings designed to disrupt crooks who have made cash from crime to take place behind closed doors.
We can reveal members of the public are banned from proceeds of crime cases in Scottish courts when the defendant doesn't challenge the action.
Instead of being heard in an open court, lawyers and prosecutors handle the case in private chambers.
It means details of alleged illegal activity and how much dirty money is being seized are not heard in public.
Figures released last year by the Crown Office showed prosecutors had confiscated £3.5million - an increase of £1million on the previous 12 months.
But politicians and an academic criticised the decision not to conduct all proceeds of crime hearings in open court - allowing offenders the chance to keep actions against them secret.
Scottish Labour's justice spokesperson Daniel Johnson said: "The Proceeds of Crime Act is to show that crime does not pay but how can we do this if justice is being delivered behind closed doors?”
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said: "The whole point of our courts system is to ensure the public can see justice is being served fairly and transparently.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said: "It's essential that court proceedings take place in a transparent fashion.”
The Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 2002 was introduced to help prosecutors seize cash and assets criminals had gained from illegal activity.
Millions of pounds and assets including luxury houses, cars and expensive jewellery have been sold at auctions, with the cash raised then ploughed into community projects.
But last month it was revealed that £6.6million was still owed by some of the country's richest criminals, compared to £5.9million in 2016.
Almost £4million is owed by 10 people, according to figures released by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) under freedom of information laws.
Edinburgh brothel boss Margaret Paterson, 64, still owes £780,440 of a £1million confiscation order handed to her in May 2015. And VAT fraudster Michael Voudouri has not paid a penny back of a £207,339 order handed to him the same year.
The Crown Office said decisions to hold proceeds of crime hearings in private are made by the SCTS.
After an action is dealt with in chambers, a judgment is produced and provided to the defender of the action. Only then is a final decree made available to the public - but very few details are provided.
Former newspaper editor John McLellan, an honorary professor of journalism at Stirling University, said: "It is very hard to understand why proceeds of crime hearings should be heard in private when the whole purpose is to publicly demonstrate that crime does not pay.”
An SCTS spokesman said proceedings over cash seized by police must take place within 48 hours so it can be legally detained.
These cases are considered to be "pre service" hearings and at that stage not a defended case, which would be held in a court.
A version of this story was first published in the Sunday Mail on January 7, 2018
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/crime/anger-over-crooks-secret-proceeds-11808693
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