Thursday, January 26, 2012

 

Given what you know today about the corrupted sale of BC Rail, does this early info. sound right to you?

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BC Mary comment:  This is something I saved from long, long ago. I  re-discovered it today, while searching for another ghostly figure, Cirilo Lopez, who seems to have disappeared from our West Coast media without further trace just like Jasmohan Bains did. Note that the Brotherhood of ... Trainmen is headquartered outside Canada, in Ohio.  Does this make them more free to report the facts? I doubt it. I think it suggests that blatant self-censorship has been at work in Vancouver newsrooms.

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__ Drug probe led to B.C. Rail case (The Canadian Press circulated the following story on May 8.)[BC Mary says: I don't think so. I searched and found nothing similar. If others find Cirilo Lopez and/or Jasmohan Bains reports, please let me know. Thanks.]

VANCOUVER — A former government aide facing fraud and breach-of-trust charges was allegedly involved in laundering drug money before police began investigating him in connection with the sale of B.C. Rail, a Crown lawyer said yesterday.

Janet Winteringham said that, starting in August 2002, police were investigating Dave Basi's alleged drug connection with his cousin, for whom the Crown alleges he was buying property to launder drug cash.

She said word on the street was that Jas Bains, Basi's cousin, had taken over the drug trade on Vancouver Island after another man, Cirilo Lopez, was arrested in the U.S. for importing drugs.

In April 2003, police connected four calls from Bains to Dave Basi's cellphone at the B.C. Finance Ministry, Winteringham said. In November 2003, police learned that Basi was involved in alleged criminal matters related to the sale of Crown-owned B.C. Rail, Winteringham said. Basi, who was an aide to former finance minister Gary Collins, has been charged in connection with the sale of B.C. Rail to CN Rail.

The second probe spun out of the drug investigation and led to a raid on the provincial legislature in December 2003.

Bobby Virk, Basi's brother-in-law, who was an aide to then-transportation minister Judith Reid, is also facing fraud and breach-of-trust charges, while Aneal Basi, another cousin, is charged with money-laundering in the B.C. Rail case.

The Crown said it has not decided whether it will go ahead with any of the alleged drug charges against Dave Basi.

The Crown alleges that, between May 2002 and December 2003, Basi and Virk received benefits from lobbyists at a firm called Pilothouse Public Affairs Group in exchange for providing them with confidential government documents regarding the sale of B.C. Rail.

The second round of proposals for the B.C. Rail sale was also leaked by Virk and Basi, Winteringham said, adding they were promised federal government jobs to hand over the documents.

In November 2002, both men went to Denver, where they were entertained by OmniTRAX, one of the three bidders for B.C. Rail, Winteringham said.

The government abandoned its plans to sell B.C. Rail's Roberts Bank spur line after the information was disclosed, she added.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007














# posted by BC Mary @ 8:53 a.m.
Comments:
http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=82eeca7a-4f77-49f4-ad9b-949c6e66795c&sponsor=


link alleged in Basi case

VANCOUVER -- A former B.C. government aide from Victoria, probed by police for his involvement in the B.C. Rail sale, appeared to have links to the illicit drug trade, a prosecutor said yesterday.

BY TIMES COLONIST (VICTORIA)MAY 8, 2007


VANCOUVER -- A former B.C. government aide from Victoria, probed by police for his involvement in the B.C. Rail sale, appeared to have links to the illicit drug trade, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Police became aware of Dave Basi when calls were made to his cellphone from his cousin, Jasmohan Singh Bains of Victoria, prosecutor Janet Winteringham said in B.C. Supreme Court.

Basi and Bob Virk, also a former government aide, are on trial on fraud and breach of trust charges. A raid on their offices at the legislature on Dec. 28, 2003, was part of the police investigation that led to the charges.

Winteringham said police heard that Bains was head of a Victoria-based criminal organization that was shipping kilograms of cocaine to the Toronto area and shipping cash back by Federal Express. Bains is still facing trial, set for 2008.

The Victoria drug investigation began in May 2002 after the arrest in the U.S. of Cirilo Lopez, which resulted in "word on the street" indicating Bains was going to take over Lopez's drug operations, Winteringham said.

Tips from an informant suggested Basi was laundering money for Bains by purchasing real estate, Winteringham said.

After a wiretap operation was in place for the drug case, police overheard Basi discussing B.C. Rail matters.

At the time, Basi was an aide to Gary Collins, then B.C.'s finance minister. Virk, Basi's brother-in-law, was an aide to Judith Reid, then B.C.'s transportation minister. The province was in the midst of trying to sell B.C. Rail.

Prosecutors haven't decided whether to pursue the drug allegations against Basi.

In the trial, Basi and Virk are accused of accepting bribes in exchange for confidential government documents concerning the controversial sale of B.C. Rail.

Basi's cousin, Aneal Basi, who worked as a government media analyst, is accused of money laundering for allegedly accepting cheques from Erik Bornmann, then a partner in the lobbying firm Pilothouse, and transferring funds to Basi.

At the time, Pilothouse was retained by U.S.-based OmniTRAX, one of the bidders for B.C. Rail.

Winteringham alleged that during a police search of Pilothouse's office, confidential government documents were found.

The government announced on Nov. 25, 2003, that CN Rail had the winning $1-billion bid for B.C. Rail. The bidding for the Roberts Bank spur line was cancelled in March 2004 after police advised that the process had been compromised.

It was the first time the special prosecutor has been able to respond to allegations made by defence lawyers during 11 previous days of legal arguments for more Crown disclosure during a pre-trial application.

The prosecution will spend most of this week countering allegations made by defence lawyers, who claim they have not received full disclosure in the case.

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : January 26, 2012 at 2:39 p.m.
 
CBC podcast about water and EU trade deal:


http://t.co/aF7W9Nav
# posted by Anonymous Hugh : January 27, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.
 
Mary what happened to Bill's update on BVB- you posted this, to be posted on his blog sometime last Tuesday?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : January 28, 2012 at 9:44 a.m.
 
Amonymous 9:44,

I don't know what happened to Bill's update on Basi, Virk, Basi.

I've been watching and waiting for it too.

But he'll tell you, if you ask him. I figure he's just as eager as you or I, to see an update in print.
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# posted by Blogger BC Mary : January 28, 2012 at 9:49 a.m.
 
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