Criminal proceeds confiscation: Modification of lower court judgment to order seizure of 112,525 Euro despite dismissal of revision

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) 5th Criminal Senate dismissed the defendant's appeal as unfounded but modified the lower court's judgment by ordering the confiscation of the value of the criminal proceeds in the amount of 112,525 Euro, affirming the underlying conviction based on the Landgericht Bremen's decision of September 29, 2022. The case involved a criminal proceeding where the appellant challenged the first-instance ruling, with the dispute centered on the legal requirement for the forfeiture of assets derived from the offense. The decisive legal basis was the provision for the confiscation of the value of the criminal proceeds (Einziehung des Wertes des Tatertrages), which the appellate court imposed ex officio upon the dismissal of the substantive appeal, determining that the assets subject to forfeiture constituted proceeds of the crime and were properly subject to state seizure.