Asset forfeiture

According to ACAMS International Glossary of Key Money Laundering Terms and Acronyms, the term 'asset forfeiture' means the permanent loss of property for failure to comply with the law. 

In some countries, including the United States, there are two types of forfeiture available to the government: civil and criminal forfeiture. A civil forfeiture is intended to confiscate property used or acquired in violation of the law; a criminal forfeiture is imposed on a wrongdoer as part of his/her punishment following a conviction. The procedures involved in these two types of forfeiture are very different, but the results are the same; rights, title and interest of the property are transferred to the government.

Often, a money laundering prosecution will seek the forfeiture of assets, such as an account at a financial institution, that were involved in the alleged violation. Asset forfeiture proceedings often begin with the preliminary seizure of the property based on an affidavit of a law enforcement officer, followed by a contested hearing.

Many jurisdictions allow for the forfeiture of so-called 'substitute assets' where the assets associated with the underlying crime are not within the jurisdiction of the court or cannot otherwise be found. A complementary principle of law is known as the "fugitive disentitlement doctrine", which prohibits a criminal defendant who has not appeared in court from challenging the civil or criminal forfeiture of his property.