Confiscation of criminal proceeds: partial reduction of statutory seizure amount on appeal

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) 5th Criminal Senate dismissed the appeals of two defendants as unfounded, upholding the Hamburg District Court's judgment, while partially granting the third defendant's appeal by ordering the court to disregard the confiscation of criminal proceeds exceeding 2.3 million euros, thereby reducing the total confiscation amount from approximately 3.59 million to 2.3 million euros. The case involved a criminal appeal against a first-instance conviction where the defendants challenged the sentence and the ancillary penalty of confiscation under the German Criminal Code, specifically contesting the calculation of the value of illicit gains. The decisive legal basis was the court's determination that no legal error to the detriment of the first two defendants existed, while a procedural or substantive error regarding the extent of confiscable assets required the partial annulment of the ancillary penalty for the third defendant, leaving the primary conviction and other ancillary penalties in force.