TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Constitutional Court ruled Friday (Dec. 2) the seizure of NT$14.65 billion ($480 million) in commissions paid to late arms broker Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) in the purchase of six Lafayette frigates from France was constitutional.

The origin of the ruling was a massive scandal involving the payment of kickbacks and the death of a Taiwan Navy captain whose body washed up in 1993. Wang, who fled Taiwan that year and died in London in 2015, reportedly pocketed bribes to have the Navy buy six frigates from France at a price much higher than similar ships from other suppliers.

When Taiwan moved to seize funds in Wang’s Swiss accounts, his heirs countered by questioning the constitutionality of the law authorizing the seizure. On Friday, the Constitutional Court ruled there was no problem with the law, as it did not violate the principle of a law not being retroactive, the Liberty Times reported.

Seizing illegal income from crime amounted to the restoration of the legal financial situation existing before the crime occurred, the court said.

Friday’s verdict also covered several other cases, including the seizure in 2016 of NT$32.92 million from the Wei Chuan Foods Corporation, considered as illegal income from a cooking oil scandal.