28.—(1) Proceedings under this Act shall be instituted or continued against the personal representatives of a deceased defendant or, if there are no personal representatives, such beneficiary or beneficiaries of the estate of the deceased defendant as may be specified by the court upon the application of the Public Prosecutor.
(2) Where the power conferred by this Act to make a confiscation order is to be exercised in relation to a deceased defendant, the order shall be made against the estate of the deceased defendant.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall subject any personal representative of the estate of the deceased defendant, or any beneficiary thereof, to any imprisonment under section 14 if the property of the estate is inadequate for the payment of any amount to be recovered under the confiscation order.
[S 92/97]
(3A) Sections 4(4), 5(6) and (7), 7 and 8 shall not apply to any deceased defendant.
[25/99]
(4) For the purposes of Part II, the following provisions shall apply in determining whether a deceased defendant had derived benefits from drug trafficking or in determining those benefits or the value of those benefits:
(a)
a deceased defendant shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have derived benefits from drug trafficking if he had, at any time (whether before or after 30th November 1993) since the beginning of the period of 6 years ending at the date of his death, held any property or interest therein disproportionate to his known sources of income, the holding of which cannot be explained to the satisfaction of the court;
(b)
the benefits derived by a deceased defendant from drug trafficking shall be any property or interest therein held by him during the period mentioned in paragraph (a), being property or interest therein disproportionate to his known sources of income, and the holding of which cannot be explained to the satisfaction of the court; and
(c)
the value of the benefits derived by a deceased defendant from drug trafficking shall be the aggregate of the values of those properties and interests therein less the value of any such benefits that are shown to have been taken into account by any court in determining the amount to be recovered under any confiscation order previously made against the deceased defendant.
(4A) For the purposes of Part II, the following provisions shall apply in determining whether a deceased defendant had derived benefits from criminal conduct or in determining those benefits or the value of those benefits:
(a)
a deceased defendant shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have derived benefits from criminal conduct, if he had, at any time (whether before or after 13th September 1999) since the beginning of the period of 6 years ending at the date of his death, held any property or interest therein disproportionate to his known sources of income, and the holding of which cannot be explained to the satisfaction of the court;
(b)
the benefits derived by a deceased defendant from criminal conduct shall be any property or interest therein held by him during the period mentioned in paragraph (a), being property or interest therein disproportionate to his known sources of income, and the holding of which cannot be explained to the satisfaction of the court; and
(c)
the value of the benefits derived by a deceased defendant from criminal conduct shall be the aggregate of the values of those properties and interests therein referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) less the value of any such benefits that are shown to have been taken into account by any court in determining the amount to be recovered under any confiscation order or any order made under section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Cap. 241) previously made against the deceased defendant.
[25/99]
(4B) The presumption referred to in —
(a)
subsection (4) shall not be rebutted merely by adducing proof to the effect that the property or interest therein was derived from criminal conduct;
(b)
subsection (4A) shall not be rebutted merely by adducing proof to the effect that the property or interest therein was derived from drug trafficking.
[25/99]
(5) In this section, “deceased defendant” means a person who dies —
(a)
after investigations for a drug trafficking offence or a serious offence, as the case may be, have been commenced against him; and
(b)
before proceedings in respect of the offence have been instituted or if such proceedings have been instituted, before he is convicted of the offence.
[25/99]
(6) In this section, a reference to property or interest therein shall include a reference to income accruing from such property or interest.