VICTORIA: Cash
that is stored with illegal drugs or stolen goods, and assets that criminals
try to hide in another person’s name or outside of B.C., will be more
susceptible to civil forfeiture as government expands the reach of this tool to
combat unlawful activity.
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| Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General |
“Police
agencies are working tirelessly to take gang members and dealers of deadly
fentanyl off B.C.’s streets,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public
Safety and Solicitor General.
“Beefing up
civil forfeiture to better undermine gang and organized crime is timely and
necessary to supplement those frontline, life-saving efforts.”
Changes to the Civil Forfeiture Act, if passed,
will:
Shift to the defendant the onus to prove that an
asset is not an instrument or proceed of unlawful activity, in cases where the Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO) provides the court
with sufficient evidence clearly linking the asset to organized crime, gang
activity or drug trafficking.
For example, if the CFO provides evidence that
police seized $100,000 from a safe that also contained a kilogram of fentanyl,
the cash will be presumed to be proceeds of crime, with the onus on the
defendant to prove the money came from legitimate sources. Similar presumptions
will apply in cases involving drug traffickers’ vehicles and property of
members of organized crime groups.
Address the impact of instantaneous wealth transfer
beyond B.C.’s borders. With modern technology,
international organized crime groups and domestic gangs that amass wealth from
criminal activities can attempt to liquidate assets or transfer wealth out of
reach of provincial authorities.
The amendments will make it easier for the CFO
to identify, trace and obtain forfeiture of these crime proceeds before they
disappear – for example, by empowering the office to obtain more, basic
information from banks and others about those who may possess proceeds of
unlawful activity.
Allow the CFO to apply to the B.C. Supreme Court
for limited preservation orders before the office commences formal proceedings. This pre-emptive ability is another new tool that will help to prevent
criminals from transferring suspected proceeds of crime out of the CFO’s reach
before it files an application in court.
Make the civil forfeiture process more efficient
and cost-effective – in turn maximizing the forfeited funds available
to invest in community safety programs and initiatives throughout B.C.
“This is the
most significant revision of this legislation in the 13-year history of the
civil forfeiture program, yet all the changes further its original goal: to
undermine the profit motive driving some of the most violent criminal activity
in our province,” Farnworth said.
“We believe
these changes will reaffirm B.C.’s leadership in Canada in tracing and
forfeiting proceeds of crime.”
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