“300+ Seized Valuables Sold at Auction: Luxury Cars, Designer Handbags, and More”

More than 300 lots of objects seized or confiscated in the context of criminal proceedings were sold at auction on Friday in Bercy.

“We’ll kick the criminals in the wallet“, launched Thursday, November 4 the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti, presenting more than 300 lots of valuables seized or confiscated by justice, auctioned this Friday, from diamonds to luxury cars. Rising for a moment in a confiscated Lamborghini, parked in front of Bercy, the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire for his part told the press: “If someone has 150,000 euros, that’s the starting bet, but I hope it will bring us more“.

Luxury cars, prestigious wines, watches from master watchmakers, shoes, designer handbags… The 310 lots of objects seized or confiscated in the context of criminal proceedings were presented at an auction this Friday, November 5 in Bercy on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC) placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice.

During a press conference at the Ministry of the Economy, Eric Dupond-Moretti expressed the wish that “forfeiture“of goods is extended and not limited”the fight against economic and financial crime or organized crime“. “This patrimonial sanction (…) must also become an instrument in the fight against everyday delinquency in order to ensure that crime no longer pays, that misdemeanor no longer pays. In other words, we are going to kick the criminals in the wallet“, insisted Eric Dupond-Moretti.

“I find it really great that offenders are penalized from a financial point of view. I really like it“, confides an individual who came to attend the sale.

“virtuous circle”

The 310 lots presented during this auction are notably the result of confiscations linked to money laundering or drug trafficking, according to the National Directorate of State Interventions (DNID), co-organizer of the sale. “By seizing their criminal assets, you take away their interest in committing criminal acts. Luxury watches are, for example, a vector of money laundering“, specifies the director general of the AGRASC Nicolas Bessone.

“It’s a virtuous circle“, commented the Keeper of the Seals in front of a diamond displayed in a display, the proceeds of the sale of which will make it possible in part to compensate a victim. Eric Dupond-Moretti also welcomed a “paradigm shift“with the signing of a decree coming into force on Thursday and”which will allow AGRASC to redistribute property (confiscated real estate) to public utility associations (such as) charities.“The sum raised by the sale of these goods, priced from 30 euros (a bicycle) to 150,000 (the Lamborghini), will be paid”to the State budget or even to support funds, for example for the fight against drug addiction or the fight against pimping“, explained Nicolas Bessone.

The director of the DNID Alain Coumeil affirms that “almost a thousand people“came to theaters this Friday and”8500 registeredonline to participate in these auctions.

AGRASC has sold 1.5 billion euros in seized and confiscated property since its creation in 2011. In March 2021, it opened branches in Marseille and Lyon, which have since made it possible to pay into the general budget of the State 28 million euros. “In view of these results“, next spring it will have two new branches in Lille and Rennes, announced the Keeper of the Seals.