Red Deer RCMP granted civil forfeiture hearing, hoping to seize $300K home and $14K in cash

RCMP have been granted an application to seize a house in Red Deer, Alta., worth $300,000 and about $14,000 in cash as proceeds of crime, tied to a 2015 operation that led to10,000 prescription pills being seized and drug trafficking charges being laid.

The application will be heard at a Sept. 28 disposal hearing, which will be overseen by Alberta Justice as part of a civil litigation process.

At the time of the 2015 search, Allie Gader, 58, was charged with numerous counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of stolen property.

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He now faces additional charges for:

• Laundering the proceeds of crime.
• Fraud.
• Trafficking in stolen property over $5,000.
• Possession of stolen property over $5,000.

RCMP seized more than 10,000 prescription pills and $15,000 cash during the initial search.

The latest charges are the result of a money laundering investigation led by the Red Deer RCMP fraud unit's financial crimes investigator and supported by FINTRAC Canada's national financial intelligence unit.

The investigation involved a detailed review of numerous documents.

The house located at 37 Wells Street in Red Deer and the cash have now been restrained under the laws of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Program pending the hearing later in the month.

"This was an extremely detail-oriented investigation, tracing the movement of numerous sums of money from various sources over the course of almost two years," said Const. William Lewadniak, Red Deer RCMP financial crimes investigator.

"Red Deer RCMP's goal in using the Civil Asset Forfeiture Program is to take the profit out of crime, cripple the financial core of organized crime and make it more difficult for criminals to continue to break the law."

In Alberta, proceeds seized under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Program are prevented from being sold until the courts make a final ruling about whether it should be returned or disposed of.

If the court finds that the property was obtained by crime or used to commit crime, it can direct the proceeds be used to compensate victims, reimburse expenses or be forfeited to the Civil Forfeiture Fund.