A post on the FCPA Blog on 16th August reported that the Mexican government has issued the National Law for Dominion Extinction in a direct attempt to ameliorate and control the product of illicit activities such as corruption and money laundering. It effectively allows the federal government to transfer the ownership of any kind of property derived or presumptively derived from illegal activities without any indemnity or pay out to its owner. It transfers the burden of proof to the owner of the assets and creates a strong presumption of illegality for any inexplicable income, property, or anything of value. The defendant will have to satisfy an evidentiary threshold to defeat the presumption of illegality and obtain a good faith standing in relation to the assets. It is civil legislation but will be enforced by the Public Ministry (Ministerio Público), which is formally part of the criminal justice system. The post says that it is very possible that the constitutionality of this law will be questioned in proceedings before the Supreme Court in the coming months.
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