Justice ministry officials in Noord-Brabant province are to start circulating photographs of convicted criminals in an effort to track down their cash and earnings, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant has reported.

Courts can order convicted criminals to hand over the proceeds of their crimes to the state, but many fail to comply, the broadcaster said.

Officials hope that locals will contact the police hot line to report their suspicions about luxury yachts and expensive cars, so that the assets can be seized under Dutch claw-back legislation.

‘We understand that no-one wants to be a snitch, but those criminal assets have been stolen from all of us,’ public prosecution department spokeswoman Linda van den Oever said.

‘Crooks want to earn a lot of money quickly and easily… some of them make millions… and we want to get that money back,’ Van den Oever said.