Criminal Asset Recovery

From August to October 2017, the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) carried out an audit at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Justice to assess the recovery of assets acquired illegally. The audit focused on the Federal Ministry of Justice. In this context, the ACA audited the criminal asset recovery at the public prosecution offices of Vienna and Graz; furthermore the ACA also examined the safekeeping and liquidation of assets in the custody departments of the higher regional courts of appeal of Graz and Vienna and the custody units at the regional courts for criminal matters in Graz and Vienna, which had been selected as examples.

The audit aimed at presenting the legal framework conditions for criminal asset recovery and at assessing the responsibilities, the financial management and the impacts of the project “special units for asset-related measures”. The ACA also evaluated the organization and management of the safekeeping and liquidation of recovered assets. The audited period spanned the years from 2013 through 2017.