Overview

• Berlin Justice Senator Felor Badenberg is preparing further regulations to strengthen the confiscation of assets tied to organized crime
• She has ordered a legal opinion from three experts on reversing the burden of proof for asset seizures, with findings due in September
• Under the proposed reversal, suspects would be required to prove their wealth was lawfully obtained, shifting the current prosecutorial obligation
• The initiative draws on Italy’s use of proof reversal against the Mafia and aims to expand Germany’s tools against clan crime
• Berlin confiscated €8.6 million in illicit assets in 2024 and has already adopted a 'permanent pinpricks' protocol to disrupt criminal networks