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A B.C. Supreme Court judge has rejected an application to set aside an order to freeze assets in a civil forfeiture suit that alleges the defendants perpetrated a $30-million cryptocurrency fraud.

In a suit filed this spring in B.C. Supreme Court, the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office launched an action to seize a luxury Coal Harbour townhouse, two Range Rover SUVs and funds in Bank of Montreal accounts as proceeds of crime.

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Named in the suit were Lisa Angela Cheng and Kevin Patrick Hobbs — who headed up a pair of tech firms — who are accused of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.

The pair sought to set aside the interim preservation order, which prevents assets from being sold or taking on more debt, arguing it had been improperly granted ex parte — that is, without their lawyer being present in court. They also sought to have the Range Rovers returned pending the outcome of a trial.

Cheng and Hobbs also argued that the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office did not have all of the facts right, including that a criminal conviction for marijuana possession for Hobbs, referred to in an affidavit, had been overturned.