Proceeds of Criminal Conduct (Amendment) Act, 2025

Summary

This is a Virgin Islands (BVI) Act amending the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act, Revised Edition 2020, enacted to address deficiencies identified in the CFATF Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation Report on AML/CFT compliance. It significantly increases criminal penalties for money laundering and related offences and introduces a new investigative toolkit (production orders, search and seizure warrants, and asset-freezing/anti-dissipation provisions) available to police, customs officers and the Agency (FIA) in confiscation, civil recovery and money laundering investigations.

• Increased penalties: Maximum prison terms and fines for offences under sections 28, 29, 30, 30A, 31 and 34B are substantially raised, e.g. from 2/14 years to 8/20 years imprisonment and fines up to $1,500,000.
• Production orders: A Judge in Chambers may order a person believed to hold material relevant to an investigation to produce it or give access, normally within 7 days; orders can be made against government entities and do not extend to privileged material.
• Search and seizure warrants: The High Court may issue warrants allowing police, customs officers or Agency staff to enter premises and seize material of substantial investigative value, including where a production order was not complied with.
• Expanded restraint orders: Restraint orders may now cover property reasonably suspected of being linked to money laundering or predicate offences, including property held by or transferred to third parties.
• Anti-dissipation and disclosure provisions: New sections 34C and 34D make transactions intended to frustrate confiscation voidable, empower the DPP/Agency to seek freezing and disclosure orders, and create offences for knowingly contravening a restraint order.
• New offence definitions: A new definition of financial institution (referencing relevant persons under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations) and of senior police officer is inserted into section 2.

The Act does not itself create ongoing compliance filings for regulated businesses; its obligations fall mainly on persons and entities subject to court orders (to comply with production orders, warrants or disclosure orders) and on the courts, police, customs officers, DPP and the Agency exercising the new powers. The Act comes into force on a date to be appointed by the Minister of Finance by Notice in the Gazette, so it is not yet automatically in effect.

Key obligations

• Persons served with a production order must produce specified material or give access to it within the period stated in the order (default 7 days unless the Judge sets a longer or shorter period).
• Officers of a government entity served with a production order must take all reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of the officer in possession or control of the material, and report to the issuing Judge if it is not brought to their attention within the stated period.
• Persons notified by the DPP or the Agency that property is subject to confiscation must not dispose of, transfer, or otherwise diminish the value of that property in a way that could prejudice recovery.
• A person or director of a legal person must not knowingly contravene a restraint order by disposing of or dealing with property subject to it, on pain of up to 15 years imprisonment or fines up to $1,500,000 for a legal person.
• Persons subject to a disclosure order relating to a transaction under section 34C must disclose the required information or face penalties for non-disclosure.

Applies to

financial institutions (as defined by reference to relevant persons under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations), persons subject to confiscation, civil recovery or money laundering investigations, third parties holding or receiving property subject to restraint or confiscation orders, government entities (ministries, departments or prescribed bodies) holding material subject to production orders, legal persons and their directors

Deadlines

• On such date as the Minister of Finance may, by Notice published in the Gazette, appoint: Commencement date of the Act (not yet fixed in the text provided).
• 7 days beginning with the day the order is made (default, unless the Judge sets a different period): Period within which a person must comply with a production order.
• One month from the day of issue: Duration for which a search and seizure warrant issued for civil recovery investigation purposes remains in force.

Related documents

• This document amends Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (Revised Edition 2020)