ORGANIZED CRIME TARGET OF NEW LAW

Anti-Racketeering Measure Would Give Police Power To Seize Assets

New legislation, expected within a week, would allow police in
Ontario to seize assets from suspected organized criminals without
notice, even in the absence of criminal charges, a government source
says.

Modelled after the civil parts of anti-racketeering legislation in
the United States, the legislation would be the first in Canada. It
would also allow police to confiscate third-party properties, such as
legitimate businesses used to hide crime profits.

Seized property would be forfeited to the state and used to create a
special fund to help victims of organized crime, the source said.

''If you are the victim of organized crime, say through a credit-card
scam or that type of thing, then you would have the option of
applying for that money,'' the source said.

The fund would also be available to police forces, which could apply
for money for specialized projects designed to prevent people from
falling victims to organized crime.

The province will also set up an advisory ''strike force'' reporting
to the attorney general comprising investigators, lawyers and
forensic accountants, the source said.

''They are going to recommend how we should approach all these cases
and what's the best way to go about it - should we go through
civil-asset forfeiture, should we go through the criminal route, that
type of thing.''

Under the civil approach, police, with the permission of the courts,
could seize any assets believed to result from criminal activity.

The Crown would only have to prove its case on the balance of
probabilities, rather than beyond the reasonable doubt that
characterizes criminal proceedings.

In advance of the bill, Attorney General Jim Flaherty planned to
release a report Monday on last summer's organized crime conference
that shows civil-asset forfeiture ''works great,'' the source said.

Flaherty has long complained that current laws are ineffective in
dealing with crime syndicates, which he says run like businesses
whose purpose is to make profit.

Seizing profits, he said, is the best way to ensure that
murder-for-hire, prostitution and the smuggling of people and drugs
doesn't pay.

Provisions would be built into the legislation to protect innocent
people from arbitrary seizures of their property.

In the United States, the RICO statute - the Racketeering Influenced
and Corrupt Organization Act - has been successful at striking at the
profitable heart of organized crime.

The Tory government has been working on the idea since last fall and
set aside $4 million to pay for the initiative.