By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Court grants RCMP civil forfeiture application for drug house, cash

May 1, 2018 | 9:55 AM

An application made by Red Deer RCMP in 2016 to seize a house worth $300,000 and about $14,000 cash as proceeds of crime came to its conclusion on Friday when the courts granted the forfeiture.

The application stemmed from a 2015 Priority Crimes Task Force search warrant that netted 10,000 prescription pills and saw a Red Deer man charged with drug trafficking and then later further charged with money laundering.

The application was granted following a hearing in Red Deer court on April 27. All proceeds from the sale of the house will go to the Civil Asset Forfeiture fund with the exception of $7,500 that will be reimbursed to a subsequent owner for renovations that were done on the residence. The remainder is channeled to victims of crime through the Civil Asset Forfeiture fund.

In March, Allie Gader was sentenced to five years in prison and banned from owning weapons for life after pleading guilty to four counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of the proceeds of crime. Gader was given 1.5 times credit for 1,449 days served in pre-trial custody leaving him with 375 days to serve. His money laundering charges are still before the courts.

“We’re glad to bring this long and detailed investigation to a successful conclusion,” says Constable 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.”

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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, then the court can direct the proceeds to compensate victims, reimburse expenses and/or be forfeited to the Civil Forfeiture Fund.