Making crime pay for the public? France gives seized property to charity.

On the rural outskirts of Le Moule, Guadeloupe, sits a luxurious villa. The style is modern but simple. It’s in perfect condition.

Until last year, the house was the home of a criminal convicted of fraud. Now, it is a center dedicated to protecting victims of domestic violence from their abusers, who receive supervision and counseling at the site.

Under normal circumstances, the French nonprofit Judicial Control and Investigation Service (SCJE) would have had to spend months to find such a real estate gem. But it got the keys to the villa last February for a symbolic €1, after answering a call for community projects in search of housing from the French Ministry of Justice’s Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC).

“It makes things easier for groups like us, and we know there’s a solid plan to back it up,” says Julien Delcourt, director of development and innovation at the Lille-based SCJE, which works to prevent delinquency and recidivism. “Moreover, the object goes from a confiscated asset to something that has meaning for society.”

The SCJE is one of a handful of nonprofits benefiting from a new government initiative that aims to turn crime into goodwill. Since April 2021, the state has donated four pieces of prime real estate once owned by convicted criminals to French charities, and seized millions of euros worth of cars, jewelry, and other merchandise.

Though the scheme involves a long and arduous legal process and some say it should go further, the benefits are paramount. Confiscating assets can be a deterrent to a repeat offense, as many find it even more undesirable than a prison sentence. It also offers an avenue to transform the profits of bad works into good.

“The idea is that the money goes back to the community where it was stolen from,” says Didier Rebut, a criminal law professor at the Université Paris Panthéon-Assas. “Before, the state took the money [from confiscated items] for itself. Now, it can be used for public good. Without a doubt, it’s a virtuous circle.”

Repurposing criminal possessions

While AGRASC’s latest initiative began in 2021, it was inspired by Italy, which, in 2018, offered France a Parisian apartment formerly owned by a convicted mafia boss on the condition that it be used for society’s benefit.

The 2021 law allows real estate to be transferred to charity by the state, though the infrastructure to realize it is getting off the ground. Until now, items seized by the state have instead been put up for public auction, with the earnings going toward various state-funded programs: a commission that fights against drug use; nonprofits that tackle sex trafficking; or restitution to victims post-trial.

Some confiscated goods have been directly put toward serving the public, such as luxury cars that are repainted and repurposed as official police vehicles. More than 3,000 such items were collected in 2022.

The practice has been highly lucrative for the French state, which raked in upward of €771 million ($840 million) in 2022 from bank accounts, real estate, and personal property. Today, even with the charity initiative in place, these types of seizures still account for about 95% of cases.

“We have to build this from scratch and there are a lot of limitations,” says Arnaud de Laguiche, a magistrate and head of real estate development at AGRASC in Lille. “Not all property can be donated, and it must fulfill certain criteria. We need to evaluate it, redo it, find a need for it. ... There’s also something very violent about having your personal asset confiscated. That’s why there is a very rigorous process in place, to make sure it’s done in a balanced way.”

Serge Tenani / Hans Lucas/Reuters/File

A Mercedes SUV, a Lamborghini, and a Land Rover sit in the courtyard of the Ministry of the Economy during a AGRASC auction in Paris, in November 2021. Luxury automobiles like these are typically either sold by the state, with the proceeds going toward state-backed programs, or repurposed as official police vehicles.

There is a legal difference between seizing an asset and confiscating it, and therein lies some of the difficulty for the Justice Ministry. An asset can be seized – i.e., removed from an individual’s possession – before a judge’s decision, but can only be confiscated definitively by the state after a formal judgment has been entered. That can take years, due to France’s underfunded justice system and a potentially lengthy appeals process.

Adding to the challenge is the fact that if a criminal’s sentence is relaxed, the state is obliged to give the seized assets back. Last year, some €103 million in such assets were returned. In fact, convicted criminals often complain more about having their personal assets confiscated than going to prison. “Criminals don’t always appeal against a prison sentence, but they always appeal against a confiscation,” says Mr. de Laguiche.

French law is clear about what can be confiscated. The state can freeze an individual’s property, objects, or money in the bank whether they have a direct or indirect link to the crime. Little consideration is given to the type of object seized – or its personal value or importance – as long as it equals the amount owed to the state.

“If we know a criminal stole €1 million, the law shows that the judge can take €1 million worth of his stuff,” says Mr. de Laguiche. “Even if his house has no relationship with the crime, it can be seized.”

Although the judge decides what is confiscated, it is not a decision taken lightly. Judges scrupulously assess a criminal’s personal wealth, economic status, and proofs of purchase before seizing belongings.

“An individual who lives in a small apartment with three children is completely different from a Russian oligarch,” says Mr. Rebut. “The confiscation must be proportionate to the crime. Where the moral question arises is if an item has a particular air of family heritage. Can the state confiscate it? So far, we haven’t had this scenario. But it leaves the door open for more discussion.”

“Confiscation works really well”

So far, four pieces of property have been donated to charity under the 2021 law, with a fifth in the works. In addition to the villa in Guadeloupe, a home worth €500,000 in Marseilles that once belonged to a drug trafficking couple is now a housing facility for victims of domestic violence. In Dunkirk, in the north of France, a squat illegally rented out for high prices has been taken over to provide affordable housing. And an apartment in the south of France has been converted into accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

While nonprofits have sung the new law’s praises, some say there is room for improvement. Unlike in Italy, which enacted a similar law in 1996, the French version does not currently require seized property to be donated to charity – that remains up to the courts. And only a handful of large nonprofits have thus far benefited from the repurposed real estate.

“We want city halls and regional councils to be involved in the decision-making process, because they’re the ones who can then direct the state toward the appropriate charity,” says Fabrice Rizzoli, the president of Crim’Halt, a Paris-based nonprofit that tackles crime and corruption, and fought for 10 years to get the current law passed. “We see that confiscation works really well [to recuperate money earned by criminal means] and we should be doing more to support social ventures.”

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has seen the benefits and wants to push AGRASC to do more. The service has doubled its employee numbers in two years and it has regional offices across the country, with three new ones opening this year. That could help expand implementation of the new law or, at least, bring more money to the French state.

“Whether we confiscate their assets or not, many will commit crimes again,” says Mr. Rizzoli. “So we might as well confiscate and recuperate the money.”