Confiscation of proceeds of crime: joint and several liability of the defendant for the value of illegal gains

The Federal Court of Justice (6th Criminal Senate) dismissed the defendant’s revision as unfounded, thereby upholding the Landgericht Saarbrücken’s conviction, while modifying the confiscation order to explicitly state that the defendant is liable as a joint and several debtor for 68,300 EUR in the value of proceeds of crime, and ordered the defendant to bear the costs of the legal remedy. The case involved a criminal appeal challenging the lower court’s judgment, specifically focusing on the enforcement of asset confiscation (Einziehung des Wertes von Taterträgen) following a criminal conviction. The decisive legal basis comprised the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) § 473(1) regarding the allocation of litigation costs and the statutory framework for the confiscation of the value of illegal gains, which necessitated the clarification of the defendant’s joint and several liability to secure the full amount of the forfeiture.