Procedure when person entitled to property is unknown or cannot be found
372.—(1)  If the person entitled to the property referred to in section 370 is unknown or cannot be found, the relevant court may direct that it be detained in police custody and the Commissioner of Police must, in that case, issue a public notice, specifying the articles of which the property consists and requiring any person who has a claim to it to appear before him and establish his claim within 6 months from the date of the public notice.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 31/10/2018]
(2)  Every notice under subsection (1) must be published in the Gazette or any daily newspaper if, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Police, the value of the property is at least $1,000.
(3)  If no person establishes a claim to the property within one month from the publication of a notice under subsection (1) and if the person in whose possession the property was found cannot show he had legally acquired it, then the property may be sold on the order of the Commissioner of Police.
(4)  Notwithstanding subsection (3), if property detained in police custody under this section is perishable or is, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Police, worth less than $1,000, or if keeping it involves unreasonable expense or inconvenience, then the property may be sold at any time and this section shall apply, as nearly as may be practicable, to the net proceeds of the sale.
(5)  If no person has established a claim to the property within 6 months from the publication of the notice referred to in subsection (1), the ownership of the property or (if sold) its net proceeds shall pass and be vested in the Government absolutely.
(6)  If a person establishes his claim to the property within 6 months from the publication of the notice referred to in subsection (1), and the property has already been sold by the Commissioner of Police, that person shall only be entitled to the net proceeds.
(7)  In respect of property to which the person entitled is unknown or cannot be found, the relevant court may order the property to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of at any time if in its opinion —
(a)the property is of no appreciable value; or
(b)its value is so small as to —
(i)make its sale impracticable; or
(ii)make the keeping of it in police custody unreasonably expensive or inconvenient.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 31/10/2018]