Retracted admissions can support foreign exchange adjudication when voluntary, corroborated, and proved on a prudent probability standard.

Retracted inculpatory statements do not lose evidentiary value merely because they are later withdrawn. They may be relied on in adjudication if shown to be voluntary, free from threat or coercion, and supported by broad corroboration from surrounding circumstances or other material on record. In quasi-penal foreign exchange proceedings, the enforcement burden is not one of mathematical certainty; proof to a prudent and reasonable degree of probability is sufficient, and adverse inference may be drawn where facts within the noticee's special knowledge are not explained. The decision therefore affirms reliance on corroborated retracted admissions and a relaxed but substantial evidentiary standard.

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Issues: Whether the retracted inculpatory statements could be relied upon in adjudication, and whether the enforcement burden was satisfied on the material available.

Analysis: The Tribunal considered the settled principle that a statement retracted later does not lose evidentiary value merely by reason of retraction. Such a statement can be acted upon if it is found to have been made voluntarily, is not shown to have been obtained by threat or coercion, and receives broad corroboration from surrounding circumstances or other material on record. The Tribunal also relied on the principle that proof in penalty proceedings is not required with mathematical precision and that facts especially within the knowledge of the noticee may justify adverse inference where not explained.

Conclusion: The retracted statements were treated as admissible and capable of being relied upon, subject to corroborative support, and the evidentiary standard was held not to require impossible or mathematically exact proof.

Final Conclusion: The decision turned on acceptance of retracted admissions as credible evidence when voluntary and broadly corroborated, together with the relaxed but substantial burden applicable in quasi-penal foreign exchange proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: A retracted inculpatory statement may sustain adjudicatory action if it is found voluntary and true and is broadly corroborated by the surrounding evidence, while the department is required to prove the case to a prudent and reasonable degree of probability rather than with mathematical certainty.

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