Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1364. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice if the Criminal Assets Bureau can have cryptocurrencies seized as proceeds of crime; and if not, if she proposes to introduce legislation permitting such seizure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42083/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is a multi-agency statutory body established under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996. Its remit is to target assets, wherever situated, which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal conduct.
The Bureau actively targets emerging trends such as the use of cryptocurrency for asset transfer and money laundering, both nationally and internationally.
The Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 to 2016 provides for the seizure of “specified property and that the property constitutes directly or indirectly, proceeds of crime” (Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 – 2016, Section 2(1)(a)(i)”.
Through its investigations, the Bureau has made a number of seizures of various forms of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, the most notable of which is the Bureau’s seizure of cryptocurrency to the value of €53million in 2020. Further information of cryptocurrency seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau has been reported on in the CAB Annual Reports of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
