Title 16, Chapter 14, Section 6
( 16-14-6)
(a) Any superior court may, after making due provisions for the rights of innocent persons, enjoin violations of Code Section 16-14-4 by issuing appropriate orders and judgments including, but not limited to: (1) Ordering any defendant to divest himself of any interest in
any enterprise, real property, or personal property; (2) Imposing reasonable restrictions upon the future activities or investments of any defendant including, but not limited to, prohibiting any defendant from engaging in the same type of endeavor as the enterprise in which he was engaged in violation of Code Section 16-14-4; (3) Ordering the dissolution or reorganization of any enterprise; (4) Ordering the suspension or revocation of any license, permit,
or prior approval granted to any enterprise by any agency of the
state; or (5) Ordering the forfeiture of the charter of a corporation organized under the laws of this state or the revocation of a certificate authorizing a foreign corporation to conduct business within this state upon a finding that the board of directors or a managerial agent acting on behalf of the corporation, in conducting affairs of the corporation, has authorized or engaged in conduct in violation of Code Section 16-14-4 and that, for the prevention of future criminal activity, the public interest requires that the charter of the corporation be forfeited and that the corporation be dissolved or the certificate be revoked. (b) Any aggrieved person or the state may institute a proceeding
under subsection (a) of this Code section. In such proceeding,
relief shall be granted in conformity with the principles that
govern the granting of injunctive relief from threatened loss or
damage in other civil cases, provided that no showing of special or
irreparable damage to the person shall have to be made. Upon the
execution of proper bond against damages for an injunction
improvidently granted and a showing of immediate danger of
significant loss or damage, a temporary restraining order and a
preliminary injunction may be issued in any such action before a
final determination on the merits. (c) Any person who is injured by reason of any violation of Code Section 16-14-4 shall have a cause of action for three times the actual damages sustained and, where appropriate, punitive damages. Such person shall also recover attorneys' fees in the trial and appellate courts and costs of investigation and litigation reasonably incurred. The defendant or any injured person may demand a trial by jury in any civil action brought pursuant to this Code section. (d) Any injured person shall have a right or claim to forfeited
property or to the proceeds derived therefrom superior to any right
or claim the state or the county (other than for costs) has in the
same property or proceeds. To enforce such a claim, the injured
person must intervene in the forfeiture proceeding prior to its
final disposition.
(e) A conviction in any criminal proceeding under this chapter shall
estop the defendant in any subsequent civil action or proceeding as
to all matters proved in the criminal proceeding. |