Presentation to the IIA€¦ · Presentation to the IIA October 20th, 2017 Victoria, BC Phil...

Presentation to the

IIA

October 20th, 2017

Victoria, BC

Phil Tawtel, Executive Director

*Civil law deals with property rights.

*No right to “unjust enrichment”- people cannot claim lawful

ownership of property acquired through illegal means.

*CFO commences actions on behalf of BC and its citizens who

suffer from crime in their communities.

*CFO consists of 8 people along with litigation team of 16

lawyers

Civil Forfeiture employs the rules of civil law to remove the unjust enrichment (proceeds of crime) and the tools (instruments) of unlawful activity and return the value to the government, communities and police that pay the costs associated to law and order.

1. Take the profit out of unlawful activity;

2. Prevent use of property to unlawfully acquire

wealth or cause bodily harm or death;

3. Compensate victims of crime & fund crime

prevention/remediation

*BC’s Civil Forfeiture Act (CFA) was passed

in 2005 and operationalized through the

creation of the Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO)

in 2006;

*The Act does not grant investigative powers

to police- police officers cannot “seize”

assets for the purpose of making a referral to

the CFO;

*The CFO cannot commence its own criminal

investigations but does have the normal

rights of discovery following a referral.

*Unlawful activity means any Federal or

Provincial offence (or similar offence in

another jurisdiction);

*Unlawful activity can be found to have

occurred without criminal convictions or

charges;

*The property sought for forfeiture must be

in BC. If outside of BC a referral can be

made to the relevant CFO;

*The statute of limitations is 10 years from

the offence date.

*The CFO relies on voluntary referrals from

police (and other enforcement) agencies -

there is no authority to compel a referral.

*Information Sharing Agreements allow

the CFO to receive referrals from police

agencies in B.C.

*BC was the 2nd province after Ontario to

launch a civil forfeiture program and the

1st to launch Administrative Forfeiture.

* Formed in 2014;

* Made up of Directors from each Provincial Civil Forfeiture program;

* Programs in 7 Provinces: BC,AB,SK,MB,ON,QC and NB;

* Annual in person meeting as well as teleconferences;

* Information Sharing Agreements between Provincial programs.

*Another tool in the tool box- funds are frozen and forfeited;

*File doesn’t end because criminal process ends-hard work can

still result in a positive outcome;

*Grants benefit communities and police departments directly.

• CFO will assess the file on the basis

of:

1. Strength of the evidence;

2. Public interest factors;

3. Financial cost/benefit analysis;

4. Interests of Justice.

• Director must name as defendants:

• Persons who are a registered owner of

property subject to forfeiture and

• Persons who the director has reason to believe

is an unregistered owner of property subject

to forfeiture

• Defence to instrument liability for owners who did not

indirectly or directly engage in the unlawful activity;

• “Indirectly engage” akin to “wilful blindness”

Referral sources:

CFSEU & major project teams:

*Key organized crime targets

*Low volume, high value

Drug units:

*Downstream providers or distributors

*Majority of Civil Forfeiture files

Uniform: Traffic Services/Patrol:

* Ideal for Administrative Forfeiture

*High volume, lower value

Major

Mid-level

Street level

• Legislation passed in 2011;

• Cost effective means to deal with lower value referrals;

• Property less than $75,000, doesn’t involve real property (a house) and no 3rd party registered interest (loan).

* Interest holder notified by registered letter and posting in BC Gazette. Provided with 2 months + to dispute the claim following which, the property is forfeited if no response.

*Criminals typically move quickly to sell houses

and empty their bank accounts after an arrest in

order to hide their illegal wealth and make it

difficult to forfeit;

*The CFO must therefore move quickly to file its

Notice of Civil Claim and lock down the assets

with a court order.

CFO 1st stage

work:

Lockdown

*The court must not make any order ….. that would directly or

indirectly reduce the amount of money that would otherwise

arise from the disposition of the property or the whole or a

portion of the interest in property on its forfeiture under this

Act.

* Document Discovery: Defendants must produce all relevant documents. For

Claims involving proceeds this includes Tax Records, Bank Statements and

disclosure of significant assets.

* Discovery of Defendant: must submit to an interrogation under oath in a question

and answer format. Responses are recorded and can be entered as evidence later

at trial.

* Focus on the Defendant’s credibility and finding out the truth.

CFO: 2nd stage work: Discovery

Total Referrals since 2006: 4,500

*$30 Million paid in community crime prevention grants for: youth gang prevention, human trafficking, drug awareness and domestic violence.

*$3 million of that paid to assist police departments in obtaining specialized equipment or for specialized training programs.

*$1.5 Million paid in compensation to victims of unlawful activity.

*Fugitive Return