Financial investigation by ZOPNI (assest of illicit origin forfeiture act)
The purpose of the law is to prevent the acquisition and use of assets of illicit origin in order to protect the acquisition of property in a lawful manner and to protect the economic, social and ecological functions of property.
Financial investigation by ZOPNI (assest of illicit origin forfeiture act)
Adoption of the Assests of Illicit Origin Forfeiture Act – ZOPNI was guided by the idea that no person should have any benefit from unlawful conduct.
The purpose of the law is to prevent the acquisition and use of assets of illicit origin in order to protect the acquisition of property in a lawful manner and to protect the economic, social and ecological functions of property. ZOPNI determines the conditions, procedure and competent authorities for the financial investigation, safekeeping, management and deprivation of assets of illicit origin etc..
As a precondition for the beginning of the procedure by ZOPNI, there must be grounds for suspicion, identified in pre-trial or criminal proceedings, that individual person has assets of illicit origin in excess of 50.000 EUR. For the beginning of the procedure it is enough that there are only grounds for suspicion that the individual person has assets of illicit origin (the lowest standard of proof). In addition, the presumption that the property was not acquired in a lawful manner if there is a disproportion between its scope and income,makes it even more difficult fort he suspect. There is also reversed of the burden of proof, which relies the proof of the lawful origin of the property to to the owner.
The reverse burden of proof means that in any case, when a person can’t explain the origin of his property with legitimate income, it will be declared unlawful and will be subject to deprivation by the state.
A financial investigation may take more that a year without the person being investigated even knowing that there is any investigation against him. There are often family members of the accused / accused / convicted also found in these proceedings. State authorities (the police, the Financial Administration of Republic Slovenia (FURS) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office) may intervene in a large-scale financial investigation without proper judicial control and thus encroach upon the human rights of the investigated person, without the appropriate or effective judicial protection of his constitutional rights .
After the financial investigation is concluded, the proceeding may continue with the filing of an action in the process of forfeiture of assets of illicit origin.
It is a procedure in which everyone can find themselves totally unjustified. In this case, we offer you comprehensive legal assistance. In accordance with the current legislation, especially in the light of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the case law of domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights, we will find an optimal solution in each individual case.