Government wants $200,000 found by B.C.'s anti-gang cops forfeited

When B.C.’s anti-gang police stopped Kevin Phan in Vancouver in 2017, they found a cellphone that “had dozens of text messages consistent with drug trafficking.” So they seized his vehicle and later uncovered a secret compartment allegedly containing cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. At the time, Phan was one of the targets of a massive investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit into organized criminals believed to be laundering dirty cash through B.C. casinos. While Phan has not yet faced criminal charges, the B.C. director of civil forfeiture has filed a lawsuit against him to get more than $200,000 found in his Coal Harbour condo forfeited to the government. CFSEU executed a search warrant at Phan’s condo — situated on the 16th floor of the Shangri-La downtown — on May 23, 2017. They found more evidence of drug trafficking, including crack cocaine and a digital weigh scale, according to the civil forfeiture suit filed on Oct. 31. The cash was found in “a Rubbermaid bin in the bedroom closet” inside “boutique style cloth bags.” It was “packaged in and bound with elastic bands” — 21 stacks of cash in all totalling $209,250 in $20, $50 and $100 bills. “The money was bundled or packaged in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices,” the director said in his statement of claim. “The money has been used by the defendants to engage in unlawful activities which variously resulted in, or were likely to result in … serious bodily harm.” The director said Phan’s alleged crimes include “possession for the purpose of trafficking,” “laundering the proceeds of crime, failure to declare taxable income” and that, as a result, the money should be forfeited to the government. Phan, 27, has not yet filed a response. He has no criminal record in B.C., according to an online court database search. The original CFSEU investigation, dubbed E-Nationalize, resulted in nine arrests more than two years ago. But none of those picked up in June 2017 have been charged yet. Dan McLaughlin, of the B.C. Prosecution Service, said Tuesday that Crown lawyers are still reviewing the evidence collected by investigators in the case. “The BCPS has not completed the charge assessment on this complex file. At this stage we do not have a timeline for the anticipated completion,” McLaughlin said. Last April, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton highlighted the success of E-Nationalize, which was headed by CFSEU’s Joint Illegal Gambling Investigation Team (JIGIT.) He said CFSEU said hundreds of officers worked on the year-long investigation into a criminal organization believed to be involved in illegal gambling operations, loan sharking, laundering money for drug traffickers, kidnapping, extortion and other violent acts. “JIGIT has submitted comprehensive disclosure packages containing the Report to Crown Counsel and substantive evidence to Criminal Appeals and Special Prosecutions of the B.C. Prosecution Service recommending charges against multiple subjects,” Houghton said. “E-Nationalize is considered to be one of the largest investigations in CFSEU-B.C.’s history, surpassing even the Jonathan Bacon murder investigation that spanned almost seven years, and is likely to set an investigative benchmark and precedent for future money laundering investigations by Canadian law enforcement.” At a news conference after the 2017 arrests, RCMP Asst. Commissioner Kevin Hackett — who recently retired — said the targeted crime group had links nationally and internationally, including in mainland China. “Top tier organized crime is not easy to tackle and requires a coordinated approach to achieve results. The individuals associated with this level of criminal activity conducted their operations in a sophisticated manner,” Hackett said. kbolan@postmedia.com Twitter.com/kbolan Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop CLICK HERE to report a typo. Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com