The ministries of Economy and Finance, and Justice have established a committee to manage property seized from crime, a document signed by the respective ministers said.

The “Managing Committee of Confiscated Property” is to handle the sale of items transferred from the courts after a guilty verdict has been handed down.

The committee is to be led by Kim Santepheap, secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, with its members consisting of officials from both ministries.

Santepheap told The Post on Tuesday that the committee would only deal with property transferred from the courts after a conclusive verdict.

The committee will also have an administrative role, collecting, managing and dealing with confiscated property, holding it as court procedures continue and preparing documents for it to be put up for auction, among others tasks.

The committee can deal with confiscated property in three ways – sell it, hand it to a state institution or return it to the courts or an ad-hoc committee, states the document signed by Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana and Minister of Economy Aun Pornmoniroth.

It says the sale of confiscated real estate, agricultural equipment, vehicles, machinery and furniture must undergo a market price evaluation.

The document also details the bidding procedure the committee should follow. “The committee has to organise auctions for the confiscated property according to the procedure, beginning with the starting price.

“The starting price must be submitted orally or in an envelope, depending on the property and the decision of the committee,” states Section 9 of the document.

Section 16 says 89 per cent of proceeds from the sale of the property is to be transferred to the committee, 10 per cent to the state budget and one per cent to the Ministry of Economy.

The committee will use the 89 per cent as expenses in performing its duties.

Ministry of Justice spokesperson Chin Malin said the committee was formed some time ago but had been revamped and undergone changes in membership.