DRUG, LAUNDERING PROBE LED TO B.C. RAID

Police Believed Aides Leaked Inside Information, Documents Show

Police raiding the B.C. legislature last December believed ministerial
aides David Basi and Bob Virk were providing inside government
information to a lobbyist in exchange for help landing federal
government jobs.

But their search of the legislative offices of Basi and Virk actually
spun out of a drug and money-laundering investigation targeting Basi
and two other men, court documents released Friday show.

Basi, the former assistant to Finance Minister Gary Collins, is
alleged to have been in possession of proceeds of crime "in value
exceeding $5,000," according to the documents. The others cited in the
investigation were Jasmohan Singh Bains and Mandeep Singh Sandhu.

That investigation prompted police to monitor correspondence and
e-mails sent by the three men and to delve into a real estate deals
they might have made between December 2000 and December 2003.

As a result of that money-laundering investigation, a breach of trust
and fraud investigation was eventually launched targeting Basi and his
brother-in-law, Virk.

Documents released in B.C. Supreme Court show that police believed
Basi had "exchanged, provided, or caused to be provided information
relating to the sale of B.C. Rail and the proposed tender of Roberts
Bank (spur line)" to Erik Bornman, a federal Liberal party insider
whose lobbying firm was acting on behalf of OmniTRAX, a rail bidder.

The documents, heavily edited due to the presence of wiretap
information, were released Friday by Associate Chief Justice Patrick
Dohm in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

They provided the most detail yet on the reasons police executed their
unprecedented Dec. 28 search of the legislature, during which they
carted more than 30 boxes and computer data from the offices of Basi
and Virk.

None of the information has been proven in court.

The allegations of breach of trust and fraud against the government by
Basi and Virk are detailed in a submission to obtain a search warrant
sworn by Victoria RCMP officer Andrew Thomas Cowan.

It alleges that Virk, ministerial assistant to then Transportation
Minister Judith Reid, and Basi "provided or caused to be provided,
information relative to the sale of B.C. Rail and the proposed tender
of Roberts Bank" to Bornman.

The documents allege that Basi obtained from Virk government documents
about upcoming public tenders.

"I believe that Bornman offered or provided a benefit to Basi and Virk
for their assistance within the duty of employment," Cowan states in
the documents.

He also states: "I believe that Basi and Virk have assisted OmniTRAX
in their bid for B.C. Rail."

OmniTRAX was not the winning bidder in the quest for B.C. Rail, which
went to CN in a $1-billion deal with the province which closed this
year. The tender of the Roberts Bank spur line was cancelled by the
government, however, after Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said
police had warned the government about leaks of "significant"
confidential information that may have compromised the government's
negotiating and financial position.

Falcon said at the time that the province had spent about $900,000 on
the Roberts Bank tendering process before it was cancelled.

The documents released Friday said the police investigation, nicknamed
"Everywhichway," began in October 2003.

Police allege that Bornman "promotes Basi and Virk with
recommendations pertinent to jobs with the federal government, with
the knowledge that their credentials are fabricated or
exaggerated."

The documents added: "Recommendations for Basi, Virk and other family
members and associates have come despite Bornman's knowledge of flaws
and fabrications with respect to their resumes provided."

The documents also revealed that police have checked University of
Victoria records to see whether Basi and Virk had padded their
resumes. They allege that "along with associates," Basi and Virk are
believed to have falsified employment CVs."

Basi, who has been fired, has maintained through his lawyer that he is
innocent of any wrongdoing. Virk, represented Friday by Tim Russell,
has made no comment. Virk is still on paid leave.

Although, according to the warrant documents, Bornman was alleged to
have offered benefits to government officials, the documents also
stipulate that only Basi and Virk are "at the present time the
subjects of this investigation."

A list of 20 people named in the warrant information also includes
provincial cabinet ministers Gary Collins and Christy Clark as well as
Clark's husband Mark Marissen and her brother, Bruce Clark. It is
alleged that Basi "offered, delivered or caused to have been
delivered, government documents" to Bruce Clark.

But the warrant information also clearly stipulates that none of those
listed, with the exception of Basi and Virk, is under
investigation.

Cabinet ministers Rich Coleman and Collins said there wasn't anything
particularly new in the information released Friday. "It's given a bit
more detail for their reasons for the warrant which have all been
frankly speculated by you folks over the past number of months,"
Coleman said.

"I think it's really important that we continue to understand that
this is not about an investigation with any elected official, that at
the same time there have been no charges laid at this point in time.
There's still an investigation out there and we should let the thing
complete itself."

DECISION ON CHARGES NEXT WEEK

Federal Crown prosecutors expect to decide within the next week on
what charges will be laid in the drug investigation that is linked to
December's police raids on the legislature.

Prosecutor Johannes Van Iperen said following Friday's court
proceedings in Vancouver that the drug investigation is complete.

According to a summary released by Associate Chief Justice Patrick
Dohm in April, the drug case centres on two groups of suspects
allegedly trafficking in bulk amounts of cocaine and marijuana.

"The Crown will be deciding in the next week whether to lay charges or
not," Van Iperen said in a phone call from Vancouver.

Potential charges stemming from the non-drug investigation tied to the
legislature raids aren't likely to come until late December, however.

Special prosecutor Bill Berardino, who is handling the non-drug
warrants including two previously undisclosed warrants that were
executed in July and August, said that investigation will be
"substantially complete in a matter of a few weeks."

Once that stage is reached, Berardino said he would be ready to begin
deliberations on whether charges will be laid and what those charges
would be.

"I will work as diligently as I can and as quickly as I can to
complete my mandate before the end of the year," Berardino said.

"How many weeks before the end of the year, I couldn't
say."

Berardino said investigators have been working "virtually around the
clock" on the case.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman said government is doing what it
should by not interfering, and waiting for the police and prosecutors
to finish their investigation and decide on charges.

"The reality is, is that there's an investigation ongoing," Coleman
said. "We're not going to interfere in it in any way whatsoever and
however long it takes to do it right is the time that should be taken
to be done."