Confiscate and Cut off: that is the approach that the Dutch government has in mind for its nation-wide measures to combat the circulation of illegal money. The focus of that approach is on confiscating illegal money and cutting off the possibilities to break the rules. Well over €4.5 billion in illegal money was confiscated on a nation-wide level in 2011. Minister Opstelten of Security and Justice provided this information in a letter to the House of Representatives, which letter he also sent on behalf of the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, and the Minister of Education, Culture and Science.
At the request of the House of Representatives, a description has been provided, for the first time ever, of the work that needs to be done at national level to combat the circulation of illegal money and to renew people’s faith in a reliable economic system. Illegal money can be acquired in all kinds of ways. The government’s measures can therefore only be effective if the problem is tackled on all fronts. The aim of the nation-wide/national policy is to confiscate illegal money so that everyone can be shown, and can experience the fact that it does not pay to break the rules. The initiative is also aimed at ensuring that illegal flows of money dry up, for example by tightening regulations and intensifying surveillance. The opportunities to break the rules must be reduced to an even further extent.