172Order to return forfeited property

172 Order to return forfeited property

[Section 172 Inserted by No. 60 of 2013, s. 12, Applied:01 Mar 2014]

(1)  On hearing an application under section 170 , the Supreme Court may order the return to the applicant of his or her share of any forfeited property if the applicant establishes to the satisfaction of the Court that –

(a) immediately before the property was forfeited, the applicant was the owner of the property or was one of the owners of the property; and

(b) the share of the property was not effectively controlled by the person whose unexplained wealth liability the property had been forfeited to satisfy; and

(c) the applicant was not aware and could not reasonably be expected to have become aware, until after the property was forfeited, that the property may become subject to a wealth forfeiture order under Subdivision 3 of Division 6 .

(2)  If the Supreme Court orders the return of property under this section –

(a) if the property is money, the money is to be paid to the applicant; and

(b) if the property is land, the property is to be transferred under the Land Titles Act 1980 to the applicant if –

(i) the Court has ordered the return of the land in its entirety; and

(ii) the land has not been disposed of; and

(c) if the property is not money or land and has not been disposed of, the property is to be given to the applicant; and

(d) if the property is not money and has been sold, the proceeds of the sale are to be paid to the applicant.

(3)  If the applicant is one of the owners of the property, the Supreme Court may –

(a) order the return of the applicant's share of the property; and

(b) order the return of another owner's share of the property if that owner is not the person whose unexplained wealth liability the property had been forfeited to satisfy.