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| Original News Release |
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| Original News Release |
The Civil Forfeiture Act came into force on April 20, 2006. Four months later, the first successful case resulted in forfeiture of $25,000.
In the first year of the program’s operations:
· There were 43 referrals and five settled cases.
· Almost $800,000 in assets were forfeited to the Province.
· The Province returned almost $500,000 to victims of crime.
By the end of June 2008:
· The program had received 166 referrals and settled 35 cases.
· The value of cash and assets forfeited had climbed to almost $4.5 million.
· The Province had paid out more than $1.1 million in crime prevention grants and compensation to victims. This included $500,000 to support 27 local projects to promote crime prevention and help victims of crime.
The
largest single forfeiture – a luxury home in
The program met and exceeded all of its initial program targets. Notably, operations became self-funding in half the time the Civil Forfeiture Office initially had been given to achieve full cost-recovery.
Over 90 per cent of referrals were connected to unlawful activity related to illegal drugs and money laundering.
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contact: |
Public Affairs Bureau 250 356-6961 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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