REAL SCOOP: Government wants Haevischer's jewels and cash
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 20:09:39 +0000
I don’t think I have seen another civil forfeiture case filed after the person who owned the assets is dead. But the B.C. government is trying to keep money and cash seized in July 2018 from Red Scorpion Justin Haevischer, who was gunned down Sept. 10.
There are interesting details in the court documents about the unusual gun incident that led to police attended Haevischer’s Coal Harbour suite. Also, isn’t it weird to put your gang’s initials on a passport holder? Surely that could cost you unwanted attention at a airport or border crossing.
Here’s my story:
The B.C. government is suing the estate of slain Red Scorpion gangster Justin Haevischer to try to keep cash and expensive jewelry seized during a Vancouver police search in July 2018.
Haevischer was shot to death outside a crowded Aldergrove McDonald’s about 8 p.m. on Sept. 10. No one has yet been arrested in the murder.
The Director of Civil Forfeiture filed the lawsuit Sept. 25, asking for more than $26,000 and an array of gold jewelry — including a scorpion pendant and an expensive watch — to be forfeited as “proceeds of crime.”
The government agency said that Haevischer was notified of the intended lawsuit before his death and had filed a “notice of dispute … claiming an interest in the money and jewelry.”
The cash and gold were found after the VPD responded to “a report of a gunshot and handgun falling from above” in the 1200-block of West Georgia Street on July 19, 2018.
When officers arrived, they “located the gun on a sidewalk outside of 1281 West Georgia, a commercial office building directly across the street from Mr. Haevischer’s residence,” the lawsuit says. “The VPD observed that the gun, while damaged, was loaded.”
Police checked surveillance video from 1288 West Georgia, where Haevischer lived at the time in a rented 34th-floor suite. The video showed Haevischer and an associate entering the building about 10 minutes before the call to police.
“The VPD continued the investigation and determined that the gun had been thrown from Mr. Haevischer’s residence onto the street below,” the court document says. A subsequent forensic examination found Haevischer’s DNA on the gun. Haevischer was arrested for “possession of a restricted firearm,” but hadn’t yet been charged at the time of his death.
The next day police executed a search warrant in the suite, which land-title records show is owned by a company called Bright Media Ltd., based in Hong Kong. It’s assessed at more than $1.7 million.
The cash was inside a wallet and was “in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices.”
And police seized a gold ring, a gold necklace, the scorpion pendant, a Cartier Roadster watch, a gold bracelet and a gold necklace with a rifle pendant.
They also found a cash-counting machine, three cellphones, two sim cards, a ball cap with R.S. on the side and a passport holder that also had the gang’s initial imprinted on it.
The director’s lawsuit says the items should be given to the government because they’re proceeds of crime.
“Mr. Haevischer was a known member of the Red Scorpions gang, a criminal organization,” the statement of claim says, documenting Haevischer’s conviction for obstruction of justice in the Surrey Six gang slayings.
Haevischer helped destroy evidence after the Oct. 19, 2007, murders of six in a Surrey highrise. His brother, Cody Haevischer, and fellow Red Scorpion Matt Johnston were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges.
The director also said Justin Haevischer has convictions for trafficking, assault and mischief.
“The money and jewelry are proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity,” the suit says.
At the time of the 2018 raid on Haevischer’s suite, Vancouver police were targeting his gang in a bigger investigation called Project Territory. Police searched one of the suspect’s vehicles and found heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as a black man purse containing $4,295 and a money order payable to Haevischer.