Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.54070/hljk.30.1.2
Temporary Freezing and Seizing of Cryptocurrencies as Proceeds of Crime: Selected Issues
Sunčana Roksandić
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Kornelija Ivanušić
Krešimir Mamić
Sažetak
In this article, the authors consider the problem of ensuring the confiscation of property
benefits in situations in which criminals use virtual currencies and virtual exchange as a so-
phisticated way of concealing illegally acquired property benefits. In this vein, the authors
analyse the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia from 2020, which
points to the importance of understanding Art. 77 of the Criminal Code when it comes to
virtual exchange offices and virtual currencies before proceeding with the determination of a
temporary asset security measure in cases where virtual currencies exist. The paper presents
the results of the conducted research on the extent and content of temporary freezing and
confiscation of crypto-currencies acquired in the Republic of Croatia. The essential need to
open virtual wallets by the police in each individual case when cryptocurrencies are involved
is explained. The observed shortcomings in the Republic of Croatia are critically reviewed, and
certain solutions are proposed that should be implemented for the penal system to effectively respond to the new challenges that crypto-assets represent for criminal law. In this regard, the
sixth amendment to the Criminal Code, which introduced the concept of virtual currencies in
the Criminal Code, is especially relevant.
The authors also propose the necessary operational steps that must be taken by police ad-
ministrations in cooperation with the State Attorney’s Office to enable the issuing of warrants
to the police to ensure the confiscation of pecuniary gain from illegal acts. The police should
create a crypto wallet to which they will transfer all the funds that are found in the suspect’s
cryptocurrency wallets, on a case-by-case basis. In cases where the suspects do not wish to
hand over the private key to access the virtual wallet, the authors see a solution in engaging
the resources of private companies that deal with Blockchain analysis, and which have the
necessary technology to determine transactions from publicly available Blockchain data using
analytical methods.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
313002
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.11.2023.
Posjeta: 288 *