What are Pecuniary Penalty Orders?
Pecuniary Penalty Orders (PPO) are orders that the prosecution can apply for when someone has profited from a crime. If the court makes the order, you will be required to pay an amount of money to the government that will be calculated by reference to the financial benefit you received from criminal activity.When can the prosecution apply for them?
The Crown can apply for a PPO either before or after sentence, so long as they apply within 6 months of conviction. In practice, PPOs are sought as part of the sentencing process. The court is entitled to defer sentence until the PPO is resolved.
What factors will the court consider in assessing the value of benefit:
- Any money you received as a result of the commission of the offence, regardless of the expenditures incurred in deriving that money;
- Any property that was derived directly or indirectly from the commission of the offence;
- Any benefit, service or financial advantage provided that you got it as a result of committing the offence;
- Any profit you made from depicting the offence in tapes, books, interviews or TV; and
- Any other thing that the Court considers a benefit.
Benefit means any money actually received as a result of the commission of the offence regardless of the expenditures incurred in deriving it. That is different from “profits” which refers to that amount less such expenses concerned in deriving it.
