Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
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