Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2015
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Barb Pacholik
Page: A1

TAINTED BY CRIME, NOW GOV'T'S DIME

Pot Dealer's $400k Cash Big Gain for Forfeiture Law

The pickup truck rolled to a stop. Its precious cargo - two safes 
holding heaps of mostly $20 bills - was on the back seat.

Shaun Munro wanted to come clean about his dirty money.

After stopping his truck outside the Saskatoon Police Service 
station, Munro crossed the street and walked through the front door.

He was there to a report a crime.

For years, he had made his living selling pot, Munro confessed. And 
now the 42-year-old wanted to hand over the proceeds of those criminal deals.

He was handcuffed, as a precaution, and officers escorted him back 
out to his truck, where he reckoned he'd left some $225,000. Any 
skepticism likely vanished when they spotted the two safes.

Police later cracked them open with the keys volunteered by Munro and 
laid eyes on $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 and even $10,000 bundles held by 
rubber bands. Between those and the stash of cash in Munro's pocket, 
the total was $236,740.

He told an officer he'd hoped to keep the pocket money to help him 
through the next couple months.

Munro made two more cash deliveries to police later that week. He 
brought almost $70,000 in a cardboard box on one visit; the next 
time, it was another safe.

He also told officers where to find seven vehicles, including some 
classic cars that he'd mostly paid for and restored with money earned 
from his drug business.

Munro's $407,720 in cash and the $10,113 that became the province's 
take after his vehicles were sold at auction for $45,000 would give 
the province's fledgling Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund a solid 
foundation. Two years after its creation, the fund was at $41,000. 
Built largely on money from suspected drug trafficking, it would grow 
to more than $755,000 that next fiscal year, courtesy primarily of 
Munro's contribution after his surprise visit to police in February 
2011. In the nearly six years since the fund began, his remains the 
largest cash injection (excluding real estate sales) from a single 
forfeiture. It was the easiest of the easy money ever collected by 
Saskatchewan's Seizure of Criminal Property Act.

Becoming law July 1, 2009, it allows the province to apply to the 
civil courts for forfeiture of any property - including cash, houses, 
businesses, vehicles, and even cellphones - that's probably "proceeds 
of unlawful activity or an instrument of unlawful activity." A 
criminal conviction or even a criminal charge isn't necessary, just 
proof that the proceeds are likely tied to unlawful activity. And it 
doesn't even have to be the property of the alleged perpetrator of 
the alleged crime.

With civil forfeiture laws now in eight provinces since Ontario and 
B.C. forged a path about a decade ago, they've been decried as an 
attack on civil liberty by critics and lauded for getting tough on 
crime by proponents.

When the Saskatchewan Party introduced the act in 2008, then justice 
minister Don Morgan proclaimed: "Criminals must not prosper from 
criminal activity."

The law replaced one on the books since 2005 that put the onus on the 
police to make forfeiture applications. But only one was ever ordered 
- - for $26,000 from a drug dealer with a long criminal history.

The new legislation dedicated staff in the Ministry of Justice to 
make the applications. Today, the fund has grown to some $2.3 
million, with 94 successful forfeiture orders as of the end of 
February. And it's expected to gain even more momentum under a 
revision to the law, effective Jan. 1, that will fast-track some forfeitures.

Most people simply walk away from their seized funds. Munro handed 
them over without ever being asked. Described in the annual report as 
a "unique, one-time occurrence," his forfeiture was so unusual the 
Justice Ministry issued a news release about it as proof of the law's success.

Munro was under the mistaken impression he was the target of a 
long-running drug investigation and wanted to co-operate.

In fact, he wasn't even on the police's radar. (His record had only 
one decade-old conviction for trafficking).

But according to court documents, Munro willingly told officers where 
to find 100 pounds of pot he had in cold storage and his vehicles: A 
red 1978 Chevy Corvette, a red 1963 Cadillac, four pickup trucks 
including a 1937 Chevy, and a 1953 Chev Bel Air convertible.

He gave a lengthy statement to the police in which he bluntly 
confessed: "Most of my adult life, I've been a pot dealer." He also 
admitted the money went out as fast as it came in. At one point, he 
paid $25,000 cash for a house in a ghost town to use for a grow-op.

"You might not realize it, although it's easy to spend $10,000 in a 
month if you just live a carefree life," he told the officer, adding 
that he'd likely still be selling pot - he was against hard drugs - 
if not for the fact he thought police had him in their sights.

Despite earning a business marketing diploma, Munro admitted he 
rarely held a legitimate job. But he always filed an income tax 
return, claiming about $20,000 annually to keep the taxman off his 
back. He never paid more than $1,000 cash at a time for the 
restoration work on his vehicles to avoid suspicion. And he shunned banks.

As his confession drew to a close, Munro seemingly didn't regret 
handing over his cash, saved from two decades of trafficking. "I'm 
feeling good about doing business with you guys," he said.

"I'm happy to give the money up if it helps, you know ... further 
investigations. I realize it's not a lot of money in the grand scheme 
of things, but it's money that you didn't have before, so ... you 
know, if it helps, ah, sorta deterring crime in some way, catching 
the bad guys, then, ah, I'm all for it."

Munro never knew if his money made a difference.

A month after his last visit to the police station, the bad guy who 
hoped to do some good died tragically in a traffic collision, driving 
one of the pickup trucks he was due to forfeit.

[sidebar]

DIRTY MONEY

Safes holding thousands of dollars, vacuum-sealed packs of $20 bills, 
bundles of elastic-bound cash stuffed in backpacks, cereal and diaper 
boxes, suitcases, socks and even a ShopVac - it's dirty money now in 
the coffers of the Saskatchewan government.

In the nearly six years since the Seizure of Criminal Property Act 
came into force, the province has built up a $2.3-million fund from 
forfeited proceeds of unlawful activity, including cash, cars, 
cellphones, and real estate. Some opponents call it a "licence to 
steal." The government says the goal is to ensure crime doesn't pay - 
at least not the crooks. The Leader-Post examines the law in a 
three-part series.

Today: An unusual tale that resulted in the largest voluntary cash 
injection to the fund.

[sidebar]

* Date refers to final forfeiture order not date of seizure

Show me the money

A fund built from the proceeds of cash, vehicles and real estate 
forfeited under Saskatchewan's Seizure of Criminal Property Act has 
grown to some $2.3 million in its nearly six years of operation. 
These forfeitures - summarized from information in civil court files 
- - brought in the most money. It's important to note a criminal 
conviction is not necessary for forfeiture, and some of these people 
subject to forfeiture orders were acquitted of criminal charges or 
never charged:

What: $407,720 cash plus $10,113 from sale of vehicles and parts 
When: Oct. 5, 2011 Where: Saskatoon Why: Shaun Munro makes several 
trips to the police and RCMP in Saskatoon to turn over piles of cash 
that he confesses came from selling marijuana for two decades. He 
also tells police where to find seven vehicles, including classic 
cars, that he had bought or restored courtesy, in part, of the money 
he made in his "long-term occupation as a drug trafficker." (see story)

What: $600,000 in proceeds from the sale of a warehouse at 2425 11th 
Avenue plus $52,015 cash When: April 22, 2014 Where: Regina Why: 
Vintage Vinyl and Hemp Emporium owner Dale Patrick Baumet had a 
medical marijuana licence and also licences to grow for other medical 
marijuana users. But a police raid of his property uncovers more 
plants than allowed by the licences, some of which had expired, and 
also dried product exceeding the permits. Baumet, who was terminally 
ill at the time, maintains he simply lost track of renewing the 
paperwork. Police also find small quantities of hash, hash oil, magic 
mushrooms and LSD that Baumet says he had used at various times in 
his cancer treatment. In a filing cabinet, officers find 48 bundles 
of cash, money he says came from his store and fundraisers.

What: $139,610 cash and 2010 Toyota Corolla When: Dec. 10, 2012 
Where: Saskatoon Why: Police doing surveillance see a vehicle make a 
couple of stops consistent with drug deals, plus driven erratically 
for "heat checks" to give officers the slip. When the car and its 
occupant Ahmad Shah Rahimi are stopped, officers find a sandwich bag 
with four pills, another with crack cocaine, and a cellphone with 
suspicious text messages including, "Hey will u be able to get MDMA?" 
and "Sup hommie gonna need a couple." A search of an apartment - a 
suspected "stash house" - turns up cocaine, digital scales, a shotgun 
and ammunition. A female seen leaving Rahimi's residence after his 
arrest abandons a backpack by a walkway. It holds $126,630 Cdn and 
$10,100 US and 30 grams of cocaine, in addition to the $2,880 seized 
from Rahimi.

What: $90,000 When: Aug. 15, 2013 Where: Trans-Canada Highway by 
Swift Current Why: RCMP stop an erratically driven Chev minivan on 
suspicion the driver is impaired. The van is registered in Manitoba, 
but Jae-Min Yoo, of B.C., says he's driving it for a sick friend. In 
the back, police find two empty hockey bags that smell of marijuana 
despite pine scented air fresheners inside them. Yoo says the bags 
are for his son's hockey. An officer pops open a loose factory 
moulded cover on the van's rear interior and finds a plastic bag 
containing five shrinkwrapped bundles of cash. Yoo claims no 
knowledge of any dollars or dope. The van's registered owner Julius 
Toribio had admitted during a 2003 Winnipeg homicide investigation 
that he was the middle man in a cocaine operation.

What: $83,143.35 When: Jan. 9, 2014 Where: Smoky Burn (near Carrot 
River) Why: In poor weather and bad road conditions, RCMP stop a 
truck driven by John Phillip Makar, who is under release conditions 
on outstanding drug charges. The two officers notice "residue" of a 
suspected marijuana joint in a cup. Under clothing in an overnight 
bag and in a duffel bag, officers find vacuum sealed bags filled with 
bundles of cash. Makar says he had been saving for several years and 
planned to use the money to buy a camper topper in Edmonton or a 
Cadillac Escalade as a gift.

What: $75,000 When: Aug. 10, 2012 Where: Saskatoon Why: Police doing 
surveillance on a suspected "stash house" find 28 kilos of cocaine 
and a pile of cash. Police arrest Christopher Chu and other 
associates who had keys to the residence. Police learn Chu used 
$75,000 cash from suspected drug trafficking to pay off a divorce 
settlement. His former spouse had earmarked the money for mortgage 
payments on a new house. The $75,000, in the form of two cheques, is 
voluntarily turned over to authorities as "proceeds of unlawful activity."

What: $59,210 When: July 31, 2014 Where: Saskatoon Why: Police 
respond to what began as a complaint of missing hockey and golf 
equipment from an apartment storage unit. When the owner goes to get 
his gear, he instead finds a Shop Vac. On a second look two days 
before Christmas, he opens the lid of the vacuum to discover what 
police subsequently determine are sandwich bags of cocaine and 
crystal meth, as well as bundles of cash, some of which are inside a 
red Christmas stocking. When the landlord checks on the vacant suite 
of former tenant Kevin Olney, he finds the wayward hockey and golf 
equipment of the complainant.

What: $48,855 When: Jan. 20, 2014 Where: Regina Why: Police have 
Marlene Marie Hastings - nicknamed Mo - under surveillance for 
suspected drug trafficking. Three searches over a four-month period 
turn up drugs and cash. During one search, police find $36,070 
wrapped in bundles in a safe. Other money is found in a purse, in the 
pocket of a housecoat, and in a wallet.

What: $47,420 When: Aug. 10, 2012 Where: Highway No. 7 near Rosetown 
Why: RCMP pull over a westbound rental vehicle driven by Dale 
Christopher Renfrow and let a police dog sniff around. In the trunk, 
police find a duffel bag containing scented dryer sheets and two 
boxes filled with mostly $20 bills.

What: $45,360 When: Jan. 9, 2014 Where: Trans-Canada Highway near 
Swift Current Why: An RCMP officer stops a westbound vehicle and 
finds $44,800 in vacuum sealed bags. The money is inside a duffel bag 
discovered in a storage compartment in the floor of the vehicle. Plus 
there's $220 under the visor, and $340 cash on the driver, Grant 
Peters. The vehicle is registered to a third party. Peters denies any 
involvement with drugs, saying he was in Regina on business and was 
returning to B.C. when stopped.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom