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Reassessing Forfeiture Standards – Implications of Recent Court of Appeal Decisions on Asset Recovery

Recent decisions by the Court of Appeal, Zambia, regarding forfeiture of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime have sparked widespread interest and public attention. The judgments in the cases of Sydney Mwansa and Nathan Mbaya raise important questions on the significance of evidence pertaining to the inability to explain the legitimate source of property in forfeiture proceedings involving proceeds of crime. The relevant facts of the first case, cited as Sydney Mwansa vs. Director of Public Prosecutions, are that a bus conductor who had previously evaded law enforcement officers was found red-handed in possession of a significant quantity of Cocaine. Subsequent investigations revealed that the accused had acquired multiple high value properties. The accused was convicted on two counts of drug trafficking and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) initiated parallel Non-Conviction Based Forfeiture

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