Trinidad And Tobago's 'You Can't Afford That' Forfeiture Law Claims Its First Victims
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191212/19024943572/trinidad-tobagos-you-cant-afford-that-forfeiture-law-claims-first-victims.shtml
Here in the United States, asset forfeiture is pretty straightforward. In civil asset forfeiture, the government decides it wants something you have and files the paperwork to take it. In criminal asset forfeiture, the government takes your stuff pre-trial to prevent you from mounting a decent defense and finalizes the transfer of wealth post-conviction.
In both cases, the government takes stuff before anything's been proven in court. Only in criminal asset forfeiture does the government have to do much work convincing a judge it should have your property instead of you.