A woman has forfeited more than $10,000 in alleged proceeds of crime to the provincial government.
Under the terms of a consent order recently filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Shelley Lorraine Yip will be able to keep $2,000 of the $12,405 in Canadian currency seized on Nov. 27, 2022, when Williams Lake RCMP pulled her car over.
According to a notice of claim B.C.'s civil forfeiture director filed in May this year, police uncovered 383 grams of cannabis, including vape and edible products along with the cash.
"The Money was bundled or packaged in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices," the notice reads and adds that it is an offence to "possess, distribute, sell, possess for the purpose of distribution, or possess for the purpose of selling cannabis," unless authorized under the Cannabis Act.
Following the seizure, the director initiated an administrative forfeiture of the money and, in response, Yip sent a notice of dispute on May 3 of this year. The notice of claim was subsequently filed by the director on May 31.
According to the consent order, filed September 27, Yip was to be granted partial relief of $2,000 with the money to be sent to an address in the Prince George area. The remainder was forfeited to the provincial government.
The consent order was signed by both Yip and a lawyer for the director and reached "without a hearing and by consent."
Because they are civil matters, the outcomes of civil forfeiture proceedings are based on a balance of probabilities. In 2019, the law was toughened so that the onus falls on the defendant to prove that the asset was not a proceed of crime.
In contrast, to achieve a criminal conviction the Crown must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Criminal charges in relation to the seizure from Yip have not been approved as of Thursday.
