PROVINCE GRAB SPARKS SPAT

Property Seizure Law Flawed: Lawyer

The province's bid to take control of Igor Kenk's Queen St. W. shop,
his two pick-up trucks, and over 2,200 bikes before a court decides
whether or not he's guilty is the result of flawed forfeiture laws
that could lead to police conducting searches for the wrong reasons,
lawyers say.

"This is the type of legislation the public needs to know about," said
James F. Diamond, a Toronto-based lawyer who led the unsuccessful
Supreme Court challenge of Ontario's Civil Remedies Act earlier this
year.

In custody in the Don Jail, Kenk faces 58 theft-related charges and 21
drug charges and isn't expected to begin a preliminary trial until
next March. He also faces assault charges relating to an incident in
December in which he is alleged to have brandished a pipe against a
west-end homeowner.

This Monday, the provincial government will face Kenk in Superior
Court in a bid to seize 2,292 bikes, his shop which Kenk himself
valued at $700,000, and his two Toyota Tacoma trucks.

Under the controversial act, the province has the ability to seize
alleged proceeds of crime from people regardless if they've been
convicted or even charged.

The money from those proceeds either goes to victims of crime or back
to law enforcement in the form of grants, which some lawyers fear
could lead to police conducting searches to look for proceeds ahead of
actual criminal activity.

"There is a real risk in this legislation that you will have police
officers searching your premises and vehicles to see if there are any
proceeds or instruments of crime that can be seized, which is not the
purpose of a search," Diamond said. "There's certainly been an
extensive abuse of civil forfeiture schemes in the United States."

In a Sun column earlier this year, prominent defence lawyer Ed
Greenspan blasted the Civil Remedies Act.

"This is an extraordinary grant of police power and the potential for
abuse or misuse is extreme," Greenspan wrote.

Diamond represented Toronto man Robin Chatterjee, who had $29,000
seized by York Regional Police in 2003. Police said they smelled
marijuana in Chatterjee's car. The case went to the nation's top court
with Diamond arguing criminal matters are federal jurisdiction, not
provincial. The court ruled against Chatterjee and he was out $29,000
- -- despite the fact he was never charged.

Kenk, now 50, gained notoriety last summer after police seized over
2,800 bicycles, eight kilos of marijuana, and 56 grams of cocaine from
12 locations around the city including his 927 Queen St. W. shop and
his Yorkville home.

Kenk's criminal lawyer Lon Rose, who won't be representing Kenk on
Monday because the forfeiture bid is a civil matter, said Kenk didn't
yet have a civil lawyer, but hoped he would be able to find
representation before Monday.

Det.-Const. Aaron Dennis, one of the lead officers in the Kenk
investigation, said yesterday he would be attending as an observer.

It was Dennis and Det. Richard MacCheyne who made the submission to
the province to consider launching a forfeiture application against
Kenk.

Dennis declined to comment on the legislation itself but said he would
be at Monday's hearing.

THE NUMBERS

IGOR KENK AND THE CYCLES

- - Total number of bicycles seized from 12 locations, including Kenk's
shop, home, and nine garages around the west end: 2,865.

- - Total number of bicycles returned to their owners: 573.

- - Amount of illicit narcotics seized in the raids: Eight kilos of
marijuana and more than 56 grams of cocaine.

- - Total number of charges faced by Kenk in relation to last summer's
raids: 79 - 58 theft and 21 drug charges.

- - Amount of Kenk's bail on the drug and bike charges, which was
revoked after the December 2008 alleged assault: $275,000, with a
$10,000 deposit.