CROOKS MORE LIKELY TO LOSE ILL-GOTTEN GAINS

$500,000 House In Wetaskiwin First Forfeiture Target

Karl Wilberg is out to collect crack houses and counterfeit bill
presses, drug money and contraband, pimped-out street racing cars and
all other manner of illicit wealth.

With the help of police, he and his three-member team are going to
seize it and sell it, then give the money to those who have been
injured, robbed or swindled.

They will take from the criminals and give to the victims under a new
provincial program modelled after similar units in Ontario and B.C.
that have successfully seized millions in crime proceeds and returned
much of the money to victims -- despite the cries of critics who say
the laws make an end-run around proper criminal prosecutions.

As director of Alberta's Civil Forfeiture Office, Wilberg says the
program will not only take the profit out of crime, but make the
community safer and help victims get their money and belongings back faster.

"If we are successful, the justice system will regain the confidence
of the public," he says. "We can't just talk about it. We have to do
something."

On Friday, they did. In the first seizure of its kind in Alberta, CFO
lawyer Glenn Epp took the first step in the forfeiture a $500,000
Wetaskiwin home allegedly connected to a marijuana grow operation.

Wilberg expects most of his team's work will centre on the drug
trade, but he also expects to seize crack houses in blighted Alberta
neighbourhoods and computers used to commit commercial fraud. In
other provinces, the law has allowed police to take vehicles used to
commit crimes such as drunk driving and street racing.

Alberta's program flows out of the Victims Restitution and
Compensation Payment Act, which was passed in 2001 and proclaimed
last September after a provincial task force recommended the
government implement the law.

Wilberg opened his office in October, after wrapping up the criminal
trials of prostitute-killer Thomas Svekla. His new team includes two
lawyers and a paralegal.

Police from across the province will refer cases to the unit, and the
team will decide whether a seizure will pass legal muster in front of
a judge. Since opening their doors, they have evaluated about a dozen
cases and accepted half.

The team then takes the case to the Court of Queen's Bench, where
they ask a judge to let police freeze the assets -- money or property
- -- without telling the owner.

Six weeks later, the owner will have a chance to tell a judge why the
property should be returned -- but will have to explain where it came
from. Wilberg expects criminals will be reluctant to tell the court
about their enterprises, and will surrender their assets.

Stolen property will then be returned to its rightful owner, while
assets such as cars and houses will be sold, and the profits
distributed to victims.

Where individual victims cannot be identified, the proceeds will be
given in grants to help victims of similar crimes. For example, drug
proceeds will go to rehab programs, and money seized from pimps will
go to prostitution support programs.

Some of the money will be distributed through the Alberta Victims of
Crime Fund, which already has a balance of $44 million. The rest will
likely be distributed through an in-house process that has yet to be developed.

It will not be a small sum. Since April 2006, the B.C. forfeiture
office has seized more than $5.2 million and paid out more than $1.3
million in compensation to victims and crime prevention grants; the
Ontario program has been running for six years and has seized more
than $6 million, returning nearly $2 million to victims and victims programs.

The civil forfeiture laws are different from the proceeds of crime
seizures Canadians have been heard about for decades.

For 20 years, courts in Canada have had the power to order the
surrender of illicit wealth under the federal Criminal Code. But
under the federal law, prosecutors can only apply for surrender of
property after they get a criminal conviction for a serious federal
offence. As a result, forfeitures are costly and rare.

By contrast, the province's civil forfeiture law allows police to
seize and sell property without a criminal charge, let alone a conviction.

That's because the civil court system only deals with property used
to commit crimes, not with the crime itself. Since nobody's liberty
is at stake, the standard of proof is much lower. In a criminal case,
the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the assets
are proceeds of crime; in a civil case the Crown must only satisfy
the judge that the assets are more likely than not the proceeds of crime.

Alberta Civil Liberties Association president Steven Jenuth says the
government is trying to take a short cut around federal criminal laws.

"The normal protections in criminal law are not there," he says. "We
ought not brand someone a criminal without proving they are a
criminal beyond a reasonable doubt."

Criminal Trial Lawyer Association president Brian Hurley called the
program "very disappointing" and fears it will create a culture of fear.

"This is not about sympathy for criminals, this is about due process
for the serious stigma attached to criminal behaviour and appropriate
punishment for a crime," he says.

Under the new law, he says an alleged john could have his $50,000
work truck seized for cruising the stroll, a crime that would net him
a $500 fine if he were convicted, Hurley says. Instead of stepping
into federal jurisdiction, he says the province should make use of
its ability to focus on social programs that address the roots of crime.

"Politically, this government is more inclined to punish people than
provide hot lunches, clean up graffiti or even put more police
officers on the streets," he says.

The Supreme Court of Canada recently heard similar legal challenges
in an Ontario case, and is expected to rule on the constitutional
validity of the laws later this year.

Justice Minister Alison Redford, who pressed the law into service,
believes the only way to tackle the business of organized crime is to
deal with it on every level, and she says Albertans want the province
to do whatever is within its power to fight crime.

"I believe people understand these are complex issues, and they want
to see that government understands that and takes a leadership role,"
she says. "We all have to take some responsibility, take some action
and work together."

Edmonton police Chief Mike Boyd says he saw the program work in
Ontario before coming to Edmonton and is anxious to get started using the act.

"If we want to put criminals out of business, we take their tools," he says.

"This piece of legislation ... gives police the tools to do something
effective to stop the crimes and to protect the public. It's that simple."