No bar to confiscation for absconders

In Charles Okedare [2014] EWCA 1173 the Appellant had absconded before his trial for conspiracy to defraud and following conviction in his absence the trial judge made a confiscation order against him in the sum of £29050.62 (amounting to half his interest in the matrimonial home). He appealed on the basis that the Court had no power to make a confiscation order in circumstances where he had absconded before trial. The Court of Appeal disagreed and upheld the Order in a fairly roundabout interpretation of section 28 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. It was assisted in its application of the legislative intent to enforce and expand upon the provisions of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994. The Court did certify a question as a matter if public importance but refused to grant leave.