COURTS GET THEIR HANDS ON THE PROFITS OF CRIME

A powerful new weapon in the war against organized crime is being used
to take guns, drugs -- even houses -- from B.C. criminals

A small provincial government office in Victoria has quietly seized
millions of dollars in houses, guns, drugs, vehicles, jewelry and
other assets allegedly bought with crime money or used for unlawful
purposes.

The Civil Forfeiture Act, enacted 17 months ago, has proven a powerful
weapon in the war against organized crime. So far, no one has gone to
trial to try to reclaim any property seized by the two-person civil
forfeiture unit.

The proceeds of crime legislation hit the spotlight earlier this month
when heavily armed Mounties executed a court order to seize the Hells
Angels clubhouse of the Nanaimo chapter, including three
Harley-Davidson motorcycles and other contents.

A review of the civil forfeiture files in B.C. Supreme Court indicates
a variety of cases, ranging from substantial bundles of cash seized by
police during routine traffic stops to the seizure of a flashy Hummer
from a man who twice bragged to police that he was making $100,000 a
month as a cocaine dealer in the Victoria area.

Some seized homes were allegedly used for marijuana-growing
operations. In a case in Mission, police observed an accused drug
trafficker delivering Safeway deli trays and buckets of Kentucky Fried
Chicken to four dozen hungry pot "harvesters," who were arrested at
the scene during a police raid.

One of the men making the fast-food delivery -- alleged to be a
high-level drug trafficker -- had his $1.3-million Burnaby home later
seized, along with more than $126,000 in furnishings selected by an
interior designer -- rugs, a $5,000 chaise longue, a Tuscan sofa,
dining room suite, custom audio-video cabinet and $7,000 worth of beds.

The interior designer also helped design a new gazebo that featured a
hot tub and masonry work.

Other seized homes were allegedly connected to large-scale money
laundering and investment fraud.

Items seized have included a $73,800 diamond ring, a $13,500 Piaget
watch and other jewelry, but there have also been such mundane items
as cellphones and a BlackBerry allegedly used for drug
trafficking.

Five thousand dollars in cash was seized from a man's car in Langley
after it attracted the suspicion of police because it was parked on a
dimly lit street outside an elementary school during the Christmas
holidays.

Another case involved a Vancouver officer on routine patrol who ran
the Alberta licence plate of a Nissan heading over the Cambie Street
Bridge two years ago. The police computer showed the car was linked to
a well-known Calgary gang.

The car was pulled over and police found $240,000 and two kilogram
"bricks" of cocaine in the trunk.

Not surprisingly, no one claimed ownership of the money, which has
been forfeited to the government.

About $5 million worth of seizures are before the courts, awaiting
resolution (the actual property value is $10 million, but many of the
homes have mortgages, which have to be paid out when the home is sold).

To date, more than $2 million in cash and assets obtained through
illegal activities have been turned over to taxpayers since the act
was introduced.

Solicitor-General John Les has described the Civil Forfeiture Act,
enacted last year, as another tool in the government's crime-fighting
arsenal.

The legislation, he said, allows the government to remove the profit
motive from unlawful activity by going after the "bling" -- the assets
- -- of people with no obvious means of legitimate income or support.

Les pointed out that assets are seized and dealt with in the civil
courts, which have a lower standard of proof than the criminal courts.

None of the seizure cases has gone to trial.

Those named as defendants in the lawsuits often file statements of
defence to fight the initial seizure, but it appears many do not want
to go through the civil examination for discovery process -- where a
government lawyer can question a drug trafficker about personal
finances and legitimate sources of income.

The cases often result in the defendants quietly folding their tents
and negotiating settlements, which usually allow a homeowner to sell a
property at no less than the assessed value and compensate any
relatives, such as spouses, for their interest in the property, plus
paying out any legal and conveyancing fees.

So far, there has been no constitutional challenge of the legislation,
although a legal challenge was launched in Ontario, which went to the
Ontario Court of Appeal. The appeal court ruled last June to uphold
the constitutionality of the province's similar Civil Remedies Act.
The Criminal Lawyers' Association was granted intervenor status in
that appeal, known as Chatterjee.

Two Hells Angels clubhouses in Ontario -- in Oshawa and Thunder Bay --
were seized before the recent seizure of the Nanaimo Hells Angels
clubhouse, which may prove to be the test case of B.C.'s
legislation.

The company that owns the property, Angel Acres Recreation, purchased
it more than two decades ago and is expected to counter with a
vigorous legal challenge of the seizure.

"The fact they can do it to us, they can do it to anyone they want,"
Vancouver Hells Angels member Rick Ciarniello said the day the Nanaimo
clubhouse was seized.

The Hells Angels are known to have the funds to pay top Vancouver
defence lawyers to fight what the bikers see as attacks on their
organization. Police allege it is a criminal biker gang involved in
drug trafficking, manufacturing drugs, operating marijuana-growing
operations, murder, theft, possession of stolen merchandise,
extortion, gun-running and money-laundering.

For years, Ciarniello has maintained some Hells Angels may be charged
with criminal offences, but that doesn't make the motorcycle club a
criminal organization.

There is, however, a Hells Angels case now before the courts that
alleges several bikers are members of a criminal organization.

A successful prosecution of that case, and the threat of assets being
seized, may cause some Hells Angels members to reconsider whether they
want to continue belonging to the world's most notorious biker club.