Goods and property seized by the authorities during criminal cases can be sold off by the State through the Asset Administration Bureau.
In the four years since its creation, this bureau, a division of the Asset Recovery Office of the Judicial Police, has accumulated €222 million of properties, jewelry and cars but has not sold a single item.
Languishing in taxpayer funded facilities sits at least one Rolls Royce, Jaguars and a top-of-the-range Porsche among a veritable fleet of luxury cars. Classy properties lie empty and saleable assets such as watches and diamonds are being stored until the day that they can be sold.
This situation is due to an omission in the legislation covering the sale of seized assets as the State fears it will be open to compensation claims should the defendant be acquitted and want their items returned.
The police are at their wits’ end with €222 million's worth lying around but for the want of some useable legislation.
After four years, governments of different persuasions continue to ignore the problem.
The issue is complicated further by the depreciation of vehicles which disadvantages the taxpayer as time drags on - cars are worth less each year but compensation claims inevitably will be for the original value.
The Ministry of Justice under Francisca van Dunem is 'aware of the problem' but can not even muster a guess at when this bizarre waste of time and money will be resolved simply by adding a paragraph to the relevant decree law.
