BRITISH COLUMBIA SUPREME COURT ENTERS MAJOR JUDGMENT ADVERSE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS, RELEASES CAD$2m

The Supreme Court of British Columbia, dealing a major setback to BC law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking and money laundering, reversed an ex parte  Interim Preservation Order (IPO) that resulted in a seizure of over CAD$2m, and other assets. The Judgment released the currency, upon the request of the claimants, who allegedly operated Silver International, an underground bank. Legal observers have commented that the adverse decision represents a loss to efforts to reign in rampant BC money laundering.

The court cited a number of issues that it relied upon in its decision, which might serve as a guide for what law enforcement would best NOT do:

(1) The duty to make full disclosure in the ex parte application for the IPO was not observed.
(2)  A fair and complete legal basis for the seizure on an urgent basis was not provided to the Court.
(3)  The law was misstated at one point in the application, in favor of the applicant.
(4)  The attorney for the Civil Forfeiture Office made no efforts to brief the probable opposing position, and did not cite any opposing views.

Readers who wish to review the 36-page judgment can access the complete text here.