Seizing the proceeds of crime is one thing, but police in Canada cannot seize legitimately earned money just because they think someone is a “bad guy,” says the lawyer representing Sophon Sek.
Sek, who has been arrested on manslaughter charges, won $364,000 Sunday in a poker tournament at the River Rock Casino in Richmond Sunday.
But the Cloverdale man was unable to collect it Monday because he had been arrested and charged in connection with the notorious Surrey six gangland slaying in 2007.
Sek is facing charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering in connection with the attack, in which six people were killed, including two innocent bystanders.
River Rock spokesman Howard Blank said Sek received a delayed jackpot slip Sunday night, and had planned to redeem it Monday.
“He was arrested before he came back, so it’s sort of a moot point right now because he has not actually come to try and collect the funds yet,” Blank said. “We’ve been asked by the BC Lottery Corporation, through the RCMP, to withhold the funds at this time.”
Given that Sek has not yet been convicted of anything, and given that he earned the money legitimately in a poker tournament, his lawyer, Alan Ip, questions the authority of police to freeze his client’s winnings.
“We do have due process in this country and police can’t just go about seizing money because they say you are a bad guy,” Ip said.
“There’s no hint that the tournament is anything but above-board. and there’s no allegation he cheated or anything. It’s legitimately earned, legitimately gained money and these (charges) are allegations.”
In B.C., police can request the freezing of assets through the civil forfeiture office in an ongoing investigation, according to the B.C. Solicitor General’s Office.
So far, though, Ip said no one has provided any legal rationale for freezing Sek’s poker winnings.
“I expect them to serve me with some kind of documentation or whatever, and if they don’t then we’ll be going after the release of the money,” Ip said.
Asked what authority the police have to freeze or seize a suspect’s assets prior to a conviction, IHIT Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said he would not discuss the matter, as Sek is the subject of an ongoing investigation.
“Our position is that we have an active and ongoing investigation and we’re not going to discuss our evidence gathering,” Carr said.
“If it’s still under investigation, we’re not going to talk about the evidence we have on our suspects.”

November 19th, 2009
Marketers must not abandon tried and tested methods of getting their message across just because new channels are emerging, it has been claimed.
IT should have been three home games to remember.

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