PROVINCE TO SEIZE CRIMINALS' ASSETS

Forfeiture Touted To Help Victims

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

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

He 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 proceeds of crime and
returned much of it to victims -- over 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."

Wilberg opened his office in October. His new team includes two
lawyers and a paralegal. Police from across the province will refer
cases to the unit, and he and his team will decide whether a seizure
will pass legal muster.

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
instruments--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 like cars and houses will be sold and the profits distributed
to victims.

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.