The Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse will be forfeited and sold. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

appeal denied

High court shuts down Hells Angels attempt to hear appeal of three B.C. clubhouse seizures, including Nanaimo

Oct 12, 2023 | 1:47 PM

NANAIMO — A trio of former Hells Angels clubhouses forfeited to the BC government to be sold will almost certainly still go ahead.

An application by the Hells Angels to appeal the forfeiture of three of its properties in Nanaimo, Vancouver and Kelowna, was tossed out by the Supreme Court of Canada in a brief statement made on Thursday. Oct. 12.

The ruling essentially means there’s no further legal recourse to reverse a B.C. Court of Appeal decision earlier this year in favour of the province’s case, which stated the clubhouses were in fact used for criminal activity.

“My message to those involved in organized crime: We will continue to go after your clubhouses, expensive cars, front businesses and luxury goods. You will not profit from any crime you commit in British Columbia,” Mike Farnworth, B.C. minister of public safety and solicitor general, stated.

The decision also confirms tools the government uses to combat organized crime are constitutional.

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The minister added the government is now the rightful ower of the properties “and will move to liquidate these properties and use the proceeds to support victims of crime.”

A panel of three B.C. Court of Appeal justices stated in February evidence showed unlawful activities occurred at all three Hells Angels clubhouses.

“Indeed, the most logical and reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence is that the Clubhouses were designed and outfitted at least in part for that very purpose. We are further satisfied that such use of the clubhouses was likely to continue,” stated a portion of the ruling.

The Hells Angels clubhouse fell under B.C.government control between 2007 and 2020 via the Forfeiture Act.

A 2020 BC Supreme Court ruling, later successfully appealed by the province, stated the Civil Forfeiture Office didn’t fully prove the three clubhouses were used for criminal activity.

In April, members of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) were in Nanaimo changing the locks and securing the former Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse on Old Victoria Rd.

The property has an assessed value of only $282,500.

Late last year, the CFSEU announced weapons and drug trafficking charges against four men with ties to the Nanaimo Hells Angels chapter.

The CFSEU alleged the Hells Angels intended to expand drug trafficking operations and create additional chapters for the organization on Vancouver Island.

A CFSEU officer entering the former Nanaimo Hells Angels property on April 14 2023 (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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