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REAL SCOOP: Video from cell plant operation played at Vallee murder trial

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There was some fascinating video shown Tuesday afternoon in B.C. Supreme Court at the murder trial of Cory Vallee. Crown David Jardine began playing the tape of Vallee in a holding cell at Richmond RCMP, along with an undercover cop.

Even though the recording is made at almost 3 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2014, Vallee seems really chatty and offers the cop a lot of details about his life in Mexico where he had been a fugitive for three years.

Justice Janice Dillon only saw the first 40 minutes or so of the tape, which is several hours long. 

Vallee’s lawyer is trying to get it ruled inadmissible.

Here’s my story

Accused UN killer tells undercover cop he dreamed about being arrested

 Cory Vallee, a United Nations gang member and accused killer, had a dream he was going to be arrested the day before Mexican police raided his Guadalajara house and took him into custody.

Vallee described the dream to an undercover cop posing as a criminal and planted in the accused killer’s cell at the Richmond RCMP detachment on Aug. 17, 2014.

A secretly recorded video of the conversation was played for B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon at Vallee’s murder trial Tuesday.

“I started packing the day before I got arrested because I had a dream that I got arrested. I swear to God,” Vallee said to the cop, whose identity is shielded by a court order.

“I had a dream that someone was coming in my house and I woke up and thought I saw a shadow and they were trying to arrest me. It was like a nightmare.”

 
 
Cory Vallee.

Cory Vallee.

He said he started packing all his clothes, books and DVDs the same day.

So when police arrived and shouted his name the following day, “everything was in boxes.”

Replied the undercover cop: “That is f—king trippy.”

The jail cell conversation took place about 2:40 a.m. after Vallee had been escorted back to Canada by two other RCMP officers.

Vallee met the undercover cops at Vancouver airport when they were all placed in the same Canada Border Services Agency holding cell early on Aug. 17.

He also said that going to jail won’t be so bad, since he had already cut off all contact with family and friends years earlier when he went on the run.

Vallee said he doesn’t drink or do drugs, has no girlfriend or pets, so won’t feel a sense of loss when he’s locked up.

“I watch TV and I do pushups, so there is nothing to be taken away,” he told the undercover cop as both lay on cement beds in the tiny grey cell with a stainless steel toilet.

Vallee also commented that he didn’t like the photo the police released when an Interpol warrant was issued fore his arrest in 2011.

“My picture is in the papers were really bad,” Vallee said. “If they are going to take pictures of me and shit like that, this time I am going to look better.”

 

He said he got his teeth fixed, finished his tattoos and lost about 50 pounds while a fugitive for three years in Mexico.

Earlier Tuesday, his lawyer Tony Paisana grilled the other undercover cop involved in the Vallee operation that day.

Paisana suggested the cops were playing to Vallee’s ego by commenting on the number of police doing security for the transport of the trio from the airport to Richmond RCMP.

“You say ‘seriously dude, there is f—king cops at the front and cops at the back,’” Paisana said.

He pointed to another comment by the first cop: “I have been in and out of the f — king can, but I have never seen anything like this before.”

“I suggest to you that this is an effort by you to inflate Mr. Vallee’s ego,” Paisana said.

But the undercover cop said he was simply making natural conversation for the circumstances.

“I wasn’t aware that Mr. Vallee had an ego,” he said. “It was very impressive prisoner transport. It was something out of a movie is where I was going with that comment.”

The two cops were posing as members of a fictitious crime group from Winnipeg who were arrested after returning from Palm Springs with $175,000 in undeclared cash. 

Paisana is challenging the admissibility of the conversations with the cops, alleging Vallee’s Charter rights were violated.

Vallee is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the bloody gang war that raged on the Lower Mainland in 2008 and 2009 between the UN Gang and the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpions associates.

He is alleged to have murdered Bacon associate Kevin LeClair on Feb. 6, 2009, in a Langley parking lot, after hunting the UN’s enemies for several months.

The trial continues.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: Vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan


REAL SCOOP: Cory Vallee says he's innocent despite hiding out in Mexico

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It was another interesting day at the Vancouver Law Courts watching the video made of Cory Vallee and an undercover cop on Aug. 17, 2014.

Vallee talked incessantly during the conversation, which took place in a holding cell at Richmond RCMP.

He talks sports with the undercover cop – NFL, NHL and soccer. He gives the cop, who’s purporting to be a criminal arrested at Vancouver Airport, advice on how to encrypt his emails and texts to evade police and others.

And he proclaims his innocence on all the charges he’s facing. And he mentions a serious falling out with a co-accused, which has to be a reference to Conor D’Monte. 

Here’s my story:

Accused UN gang killer tells undercover cop he’s innocent

Accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee proclaimed to an undercover cop planted in his jail cell in 2014 that he is innocent of all the charges he faces.

The secretly recorded conversation occurred on Aug. 17, 2014 — the same day Vallee was escorted back to Canada from Mexico.

In it, Vallee tells the cop — whose identify is shielded by a publication ban — that he has been charged with two murders, as well as attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

“And on the form it says I’m being investigating for three more,” Vallee explained.

The cop expressed shock: “No f—king way. Seriously?”

“Yep,” Vallee said. “When they read out the charges, I said, ‘That’s it?’”

He said the police officers then “looked at me and they laughed.”

But Vallee also told the cop, who was posing as a criminal arrested at Vancouver Airport, that he was not guilty of any of the charges.

 

“I am innocent. I didn’t do them,” he said. “I don’t have anything to worry about.”

He said he held a regular job his whole adult life before taking off to Mexico, fearing police were about to arrest him.

“Not many people who get charged with gang stuff have a job and go to work every day,” Vallee said. “I used to work for the city. I used to drive a garbage truck.”

The recorded conversation, which lasts several hours, is being played on video for B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon at Vallee’s murder trial.

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is challenging the admissibility of the conversation, alleging that his client’s Charter rights were violated.

Vallee told the undercover cop that several others were originally charged with murder in the same case, but made “deals” and the murder count was dropped.

In fact, several other members and associates of the UN gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The murder charges some of them initially faced were later stayed.

Vallee was originally charged with the May 2008 murder of stereo installer Jonathan Barber, the attempted murder of Barber’s girlfriend, conspiracy to kill the Bacons, as well as the February 2009 murder of Bacon associate Kevin LeClair.

Both the Barber murder charge and the attempted murder charge were recently dropped by the Crown.

Vallee also hinted to the undercover cop that he had a falling out with UN gang leader Conor D’Monte.

While he didn’t name D’Monte, he referred to having a co-accused who was “on the run too… He’s on the same charges.”

Interpol warrants were issued for both Vallee and D’Monte on the same day.   

Conor D'Monte still wanted for murder

Conor D’Monte still wanted for murder

Vallee told the undercover cop that he doesn’t talk to the other accused nor had they fled Canada together.

“You don’t put all your eggs in one basket because if you catch one, you catch the other,” he said. “I have disagreements with him.”

When the cop asked about the dispute, Vallee said it was a “disagreement about money.”

“I need money…he doesn’t want to pay it,” Vallee said, referring to his co-accused as a “f—king asshole.”

Vallee said he left Canada before he was charged in January 2011.

“I used to get followed everywhere by the police so I knew I was going to get charged so I left before the charges,” he said.

Once the charges were laid, he worried about how his family would react to the news.

“When you first hear you are on the front page of the paper charged with a whole bunch of shit, it’s stressful because I wasn’t in the city then,” he told the cop as both lay on cement beds inside the small holding cell at the Richmond RCMP detachment.

“I was pretty depressed because when your family sees that it makes you look like a real f–king asshole.”

Vallee said it was the job of police “to make me look bad.”

“It’s not like they are going to put in, oh, he’s a nice guy, he volunteered for meals on wheels. I didn’t, but they are not going to put that stuff in anyway. It’s just the way it is,” he said. “Their job is to make me look bad. It’s my lawyer’s job to show that I’m not.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

 

Accused UN gang killer tells undercover cop he's innocent

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Accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee told an undercover cop planted in his jail cell in 2014 that he was innocent of all the charges he faced.

The secretly recorded conversation occurred on Aug. 17, 2014 – the same day Vallee was escorted back to Canada from Mexico.

In it, Vallee tells the cop – whose identify is shielded by a publication ban – that he had been charged with two murders, as well as attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

“And on the form it says I’m being investigating for three more,” Vallee explained.

The cop expressed shock: “No f—king way. Seriously?”

“Yep,” Vallee said. “When they read out the charges, I said, ‘That’s it?’”

He said the police officers then “looked at me and they laughed.”

But Vallee also told the cop, who was posing as a criminal arrested at Vancouver airport, that he was not guilty of any of the charges.

“I am innocent. I didn’t do them,” he said. “I don’t have anything to worry about.”

He said he held a regular job his whole adult life before taking off to Mexico, fearing police were about to arrest him.

“Not many people who get charged with gang stuff have a job and go to work every day,” Vallee said. “I used to work for the city. I used to drive a garbage truck.”

The recorded conversation, which lasted several hours, is being played on video for B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon at Vallee’s murder trial.

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is challenging the admissibility of the conversation, alleging that his client’s Charter rights were violated.

Vallee told the undercover cop that several others were originally charged with murder in the same case, but made “deals” and the murder count was dropped.

In fact, several other members and associates of the UN gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers and were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The murder charges some of them initially faced were later stayed.

Vallee was originally charged with the May 2008 murder of stereo installer Jonathan Barber, the attempted murder of Barber’s girlfriend, conspiracy to kill the Bacons, as well as the February 2009 murder of Bacon associate Kevin LeClair.

Both the Barber murder charge and the attempted murder charge were recently dropped by the Crown.

Vallee also hinted to the undercover cop that he had a falling out with UN gang leader Conor D’Monte.

While he didn’t name D’Monte, he referred to having a co-accused who was “on the run too … He’s on the same charges.”

Interpol warrants were issued for Vallee and D’Monte on the same day.  

Vallee told the undercover cop that he doesn’t talk to the other accused, nor had they fled Canada together.

“You don’t put all your eggs in one basket because if you catch one, you catch the other,” he said. “I have disagreements with him.”

When the cop asked about the dispute, Vallee said it was a “disagreement about money.”

“I need money … he doesn’t want to pay it,” Vallee said, referring to his co-accused as a “f—king asshole.”

Vallee said he left Canada before he was charged in January 2011.

“I used to get followed everywhere by the police so I knew I was going to get charged so I left before the charges,” he said.

Once the charges were laid, he worried about how his family would react to the news.

“When you first hear you are on the front page of the paper charged with a whole bunch of shit, it’s stressful because I wasn’t in the city then,” he told the cop as both lay on cement beds inside the small holding cell at the Richmond RCMP detachment.

“I was pretty depressed because when your family sees that it makes you look like a real f–king asshole.”

Vallee said it was the job of police “to make me look bad.”

“It’s not like they are going to put in, oh, he’s a nice guy, he volunteered for meals on wheels. I didn’t, but they are not going to put that stuff in anyway. It’s just the way it is,” he said. “Their job is to make me look bad. It’s my lawyer’s job to show that I’m not.”

Related

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

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Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.

Accused UN gang killer laments life on the run, poor choices of his youth

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He couldn’t go to the beach in Puerto Vallarta because there were just too many Canadians who might recognize him.

And he always had to wear long sleeves and pants to hide his tattoos even in the most stifling Mexican heat.

United Nations gang member and accused killer Cory Vallee described how tough his life was on the run, in a secretly recorded conversation with an undercover cop in 2014.

“The way you have to live in order to not get caught — the things you have to do, the things you have to sacrifice in order to live like that … it is a lot of stress man. It is a lot of stress,” Vallee complained.

Crown prosecutor David Jardine wants to use the video in evidence at Vallee’s B.C. Supreme Court trial on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy.

But Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana has applied to have the conversations ruled inadmissible, arguing the undercover cops broke the rules by prompting certain responses from Vallee.

Justice Janice Dillon watched the tape for several hours this week as Vallee’s trial for allegedly slaying a Red Scorpion gang rival continued.

On it, Vallee complained about how he was always looking over his shoulder while hiding out in Guadalajara, Mexico, for three years before his 2014 arrest.

“If I lived near the beach, it would have been a little bit more normal. But if I lived near the beach, I would have to worry about seeing people from Canada,” Vallee told the undercover cop planted in his cell at the Richmond RCMP detachment.

“There are always a lot of people from Vancouver who go to Mexico. All it takes is one person to say ‘hey that’s the guy from the front page of the newspaper before.’”

He kept his circle small, talking only to “normal people” and not those involved in criminality, Vallee said.

When he went out shopping or to a restaurant, he would try to go at different times of the day so as not to attract police attention.

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“But you can only go at so many different times over three years.”

He was arrested on Aug. 14, 2014 at a mall in Guadalajara and flown back to Vancouver in the early morning hours of Aug. 17.

Two undercover officers posing as criminals arrested at the airport were transported with Vallee to the Richmond detachment. One was placed in a cell with him. The identities of both cops are protected by a publication ban.

Vallee said he had to be careful that no one he encountered could see his distinctive tattoos.

“Do you know how shitty it is to wear a jacket in 40-degree heat with a long sleeve shirt?”

Vallee said he had to be disciplined. He stayed away from nightclubs and strip joints.

And he changed his appearance — both physical and by dropping “flashy clothes” from his wardrobe.

“You have to lose all the weight and try to blend in and make it look like you’re a nerdy person.”

His luck ran out when he ran into a former criminal associate about six months after moving away and cutting off ties with the man. He thinks that person tipped off Mexican police after getting arrested for selling drugs.

Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers for several months in 2008 and 2009, and with murdering Bacon associate Kevin LeClair on Feb. 6, 2009.

He also told the undercover cop, who pretended to be from Winnipeg, how bloody the Lower Mainland gang war was years earlier, before he fled.

“That was back when like there was a lot of violence,” he said. “It was when there was a big gang war up here.”

He said a lot of younger guys — “kids” — get caught up in gang life without realizing what can happen.

“You can’t hang out with bad people and not expect bad things to happen to you,” he said. “I think now being older, I am more aware of that.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouveresun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.

REAL SCOOP: More from Cory Vallee's 2014 cell video

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The contentious secret video-tapaed conversation between accused killer Cory Vallee and an undercover cop in 2014 has now been completely played in B.C. Supreme Court. His lawyer is fighting its admission, while the Crown wants to use the video as part of its evidence in the murder trial.

Justice Janice Dillon hasn’t yet ruled on its admissibility. I have filed a new story on some of the other things Vallee said on the video.

Here it is:

Accused UN gang killer laments life on the run, poor choices of his youth

He couldn’t go to the beach in Puerto Vallarta because there were just too many Canadians who might recognize him.

And he always had to wear long sleeves and pants to hide his tattoos even in the most stifling Mexican heat.

United Nations gang member and accused killer Cory Vallee described how tough his life was on the run, in a secretly recorded conversation with an undercover cop in 2014.

“The way you have to live in order to not get caught — the things you have to do, the things you have to sacrifice in order to live like that … it is a lot of stress man. It is a lot of stress,” Vallee complained.

Crown prosecutor David Jardine wants to use the video in evidence at Vallee’s B.C. Supreme Court trial on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy.

 

But Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana has applied to have the conversations ruled inadmissible, arguing the undercover cops broke the rules by prompting certain responses from Vallee.

Justice Janice Dillon watched the tape for several hours this week as Vallee’s trial for allegedly slaying a Red Scorpion gang rival continued.

On it, Vallee complained about how he was always looking over his shoulder while hiding out in Guadalajara, Mexico, for three years before his 2014 arrest.

“If I lived near the beach, it would have been a little bit more normal. But if I lived near the beach, I would have to worry about seeing people from Canada,” Vallee told the undercover cop planted in his cell at the Richmond RCMP detachment.

“There are always a lot of people from Vancouver who go to Mexico. All it takes is one person to say ‘hey that’s the guy from the front page of the newspaper before.’”

He kept his circle small, talking only to “normal people” and not those involved in criminality, Vallee said.

When he went out shopping or to a restaurant, he would try to go at different times of the day so as not to attract police attention.

“But you can only go at so many different times over three years.”

He was arrested on Aug. 14, 2014 at a mall in Guadalajara and flown back to Vancouver in the early morning hours of Aug. 17.

Two undercover officers posing as criminals arrested at the airport were transported with Vallee to the Richmond detachment. One was placed in a cell with him. The identities of both cops are protected by a publication ban.

Vallee said he had to be careful that no one he encountered could see his distinctive tattoos.

“Do you know how shitty it is to wear a jacket in 40-degree heat with a long sleeve shirt?”

Vallee said he had to be disciplined. He stayed away from nightclubs and strip joints.

And he changed his appearance — both physical and by dropping “flashy clothes” from his wardrobe.

“You have to lose all the weight and try to blend in and make it look like you’re a nerdy person.”

His luck ran out when he ran into a former criminal associate about six months after moving away and cutting off ties with the man. He thinks that person tipped off Mexican police after getting arrested for selling drugs.

Vallee is charged with conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers for several months in 2008 and 2009, and with murdering Bacon associate Kevin LeClair on Feb. 6, 2009.

He also told the undercover cop, who pretended to be from Winnipeg, how bloody the Lower Mainland gang war was years earlier, before he fled.

“That was back when like there was a lot of violence,” he said. “It was when there was a big gang war up here.”

He said a lot of younger guys — “kids” — get caught up in gang life without realizing what can happen.

“You can’t hang out with bad people and not expect bad things to happen to you,” he said. “I think now being older, I am more aware of that.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouveresun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Lawyer argues that police manipulated accused gang killer during B.C. undercover operation

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A lawyer for accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee says police improperly manipulated his “chatty” client during an undercover operation in August 2014.

As a result, lawyer Tony Paisana wants secretly recorded conversations between Vallee and the two officers ruled inadmissible at the murder trial.

Paisana told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon Tuesday that the cops, whose identities are shielded by a publication ban, deliberately came up with a fake back story that matched Vallee’s circumstances just to get him to talk.

“It’s a carefully thought-out cover story that more or less parallels Mr. Vallee’s case in the sense that it involves informants,” Paisana said.

“It is of course permissible for undercover officers to have a cover story. Where the line gets crossed is where the cover story is used to manipulate, stimulate or elicit.”

The two officers posed as criminals from Winnipeg who were arrested at Vancouver International Airport with $175,000 in undeclared cash. One said several times in front of Vallee that he was concerned an associate had “ratted” on them.

Vallee is charged with the February 2009 murder of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair, as well as conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers in 2008 and 2009.

The Crown is expected to call former gang associates-turned police informants.

The undercover cops were placed in a holding room with Vallee at the airport after he was escorted back from Mexico on Aug. 17, 2014.

All three were then put in the back of a police van and driven to the Richmond RCMP detachment, where Vallee and a cop were locked in the same cell for several hours.

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Paisana said the cell plant kept redirecting the conversation with Vallee back to things the police wanted to know for their case.

“When Mr. Vallee is trying to direct conversation, it is typically for innocuous things. But when it’s ([the undercover officer) directing conversation, it is usually about murder, Mexico, gangs — topics that fit the objective,” Paisana said.

He admitted Vallee is “a chatty fellow” and would sometimes go on at length in the cell about his health, his tattoos and sports teams.

But Vallee was not raising the issue of his charges, except to profess his innocence, Paisana said.

When he questioned the officers last week, they denied trying to elicit specific information from Vallee.

They said they were trying to establish “credibility” by discussing their fake criminal links and related topics.

Paisana said Tuesday he doesn’t accept the cops’ explanation and suggested they had been instructed to say certain things before meeting Vallee.

“This is an overall more sophisticated form of elicitation,” Paisana said.

Crown David Jardine will make his arguments on the admissibility of the recorded conversations Wednesday, before Dillon rules whether or not they will allowed into evidence.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.

REAL SCOOP: Undercover cops manipulated Cory Vallee, lawyer argues

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The video and audio tapes made of conversations between accused killer Cory Vallee and undercover cops back in 2014 are still in contention at Vallee’s murder trial. His lawyer Tony Paisana made his legal arguments Tuesday about why he feels the recordings should be inadmissible at trial.

Crown David Jardine will make his submissions Wednesday.

I’m not sure if Justice Janice Dillon will take time to rule on this application before the trial continues. Jardine hasn’t even made his opening in the trial yet.

Here’s my latest story:

Lawyer argues that police manipulated accused gang killer during B.C. undercover operation

A lawyer for accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee says police improperly manipulated his “chatty” client during an undercover operation in August 2014.

As a result, lawyer Tony Paisana wants secretly recorded conversations between Vallee and the two officers ruled inadmissible at the murder trial.

Paisana told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon Tuesday that the cops, whose identities are shielded by a publication ban, deliberately came up with a fake back story that matched Vallee’s circumstances just to get him to talk.

“It’s a carefully thought-out cover story that more or less parallels Mr. Vallee’s case in the sense that it involves informants,” Paisana said.

“It is of course permissible for undercover officers to have a cover story. Where the line gets crossed is where the cover story is used to manipulate, stimulate or elicit.”

 

The two officers posed as criminals from Winnipeg who were arrested at Vancouver International Airport with $175,000 in undeclared cash. One said several times in front of Vallee that he was concerned an associate had “ratted” on them.

Vallee is charged with the February 2009 murder of Red Scorpion gangster Kevin LeClair, as well as conspiracy to kill the Bacon brothers in 2008 and 2009.

The Crown is expected to call former gang associates-turned police informants.

The undercover cops were placed in a holding room with Vallee at the airport after he was escorted back from Mexico on Aug. 17, 2014.

All three were then put in the back of a police van and driven to the Richmond RCMP detachment, where Vallee and a cop were locked in the same cell for several hours.

RELATED

Paisana said the cell plant kept redirecting the conversation with Vallee back to things the police wanted to know for their case.

“When Mr. Vallee is trying to direct conversation, it is typically for innocuous things. But when it’s ([the undercover officer) directing conversation, it is usually about murder, Mexico, gangs — topics that fit the objective,” Paisana said.

He admitted Vallee is “a chatty fellow” and would sometimes go on at length in the cell about his health, his tattoos and sports teams.

But Vallee was not raising the issue of his charges, except to profess his innocence, Paisana said.

When he questioned the officers last week, they denied trying to elicit specific information from Vallee.

They said they were trying to establish “credibility” by discussing their fake criminal links and related topics.

Paisana said Tuesday he doesn’t accept the cops’ explanation and suggested they had been instructed to say certain things before meeting Vallee.

“This is an overall more sophisticated form of elicitation,” Paisana said.

Crown David Jardine will make his arguments on the admissibility of the recorded conversations Wednesday, before Dillon rules whether or not they will allowed into evidence.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

REAL SCOOP: IHIT trying to identify burned North Van murder victim

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Because I’ve been spending a lot of time in court, I haven’t updated you on other important crime stories in the last few days.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is looking for help to identify a man whose body was found  burned just before 10:00 am Monday in an outdoor shelter beside Lynn Creek near Keith Road.  

IHIT Cpl. Meghan Foster said investigators need the public’s help to identify whether the man was killed where he was found or dumped there.

“The victim has yet to be identified, and there remains many unanswered questions.  Once the identity is known, our priority will be to notify and support the family, and attempt to piece together the events leading up to this tragic death,” Foster said. 

She said the shelter is located in a densely-wooded area along the Bridgman North Trail.

“IHIT is asking anyone who was in the area of the shelter last weekend to contact police,” she said.

Investigators can be reached at the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448 or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

There was also a shooting in Surrey Tuesday evening in Surrey which left a man in hospital with injuries.

The shooting happened about 8 p.m. in the 12100-block of 68th Avenue, Surrey Mounties said in a news release.

The release said “the investigation is still in its early stages, but indications are that this is a targeted incident.”

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

 


Accused UN killer brought up friendship with Clay Roueche, Crown says

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Accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee raised his friendship with gang leader Clay Roueche in a secretly recorded conversation with an undercover cop, a Crown prosecutor said Wednesday.

Crown counsel David Jardine said the fact it was Vallee who introduced the topic of Roueche to his cop “cellmate” in August 2014 is proof the accused killer was speaking freely and was not manipulated by police. 

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is trying to get the recordings thrown out of evidence at Vallee’s trial for the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair.

Paisana earlier told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon that undercover police improperly elicited comments from Vallee in violation of his Charter rights.

But Jardine argued that Vallee is the one volunteering information about being involved in “gang shit,” being a friend of Roueche’s and hiding out in Mexico because of his charges.

“He talks about Clay Roueche being his buddy at least four times,” Jardine said.

The first reference to Roueche came after Vallee asked the undercover cop if he had seen the movie Captain Phillips, Jardine said.

Vallee said that the Somali pirate upon which the Tom Hanks film is based is in the same U.S. prison as “my friend.”

Jardine said the recordings contain important evidence about Vallee’s “relationship or knowledge of and association to Clay Roueche.”  

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Must credit: Special to the Vancouver Sun. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Special to The Vancouver Sun

Roueche is an alleged co-conspirator in the same murder case as Vallee, but has not been charged because he is serving a 30-year U.S. sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering.

When one of the undercover cops asked Vallee where he is from, Vallee said: “Read the paper tomorrow man … I’ll be front page.”

“This opening exchange between Mr. Vallee and the undercover police is illustrative of his desire to talk about what an important and notorious criminal he is,” Jardine said.

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 Jardine said Vallee also offered voluntary comments about “fleeing Canada to go to Mexico through the United States, his lifestyle, what he does to avoid detection in Mexico, his knowledge of the offences with which he is charged in Canada and his knowledge of his co-accused or rather his co-conspirators.”

Vallee knew he was being recorded after his arrest and continued to make incriminating comments during his conversation with the under police, Jardine said.  

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo. LeClair was killed in a Langley parking lot in February 2009.

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo.

“Mr. Vallee’s awareness of being recorded negates any possibility of statements from him being actively elicited because he made the conscious choice to speak knowing they were being recorded,” Jardine said.

“He is exercising his freedom to choose to speak knowing the police are hearing it.”

Vallee is alleged to have gunned down LeClair in the parking lot of a Langley strip mall on Feb. 6, 2009 at the height of a gang war between the United Nations gang and Red Scorpions. He is also charged with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Scorpion associates over several months in 2008 and 2009.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

REAL SCOOP: Vallee brought up friendship with Clay Roueche, Crown says

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Today it was the Crown’s turn to respond to a defence motion to exclude recordings of Cory Vallee’s conversations with two undercover cops back in August 2014.

Prosecutor David Jardine defended the police, saying they acted properly and were not trying to influence what Vallee revealed to them.

Here’s my story:

Accused UN killer brought up friendship with Clay Roueche, Crown says

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Must credit: Special to the Vancouver Sun. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Clay Roueche in recent photo at Coleman Prison, Florida. Must credit: Special to the Vancouver Sun. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Accused United Nations gang killer Cory Vallee raised his friendship with gang leader Clay Roueche in a secretly recorded conversation with an undercover cop, a Crown prosecutor said Wednesday.

Crown counsel David Jardine said the fact it was Vallee who introduced the topic of Roueche to his cop “cellmate” in August 2014 is proof the accused killer was speaking freely and was not manipulated by police. 

Vallee’s lawyer Tony Paisana is trying to get the recordings thrown out of evidence at Vallee’s trial for the 2009 murder of Red Scorpion Kevin LeClair.

Paisana earlier told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon that undercover police improperly elicited comments from Vallee in violation of his Charter rights.

But Jardine argued that Vallee is the one volunteering information about being involved in “gang shit,” being a friend of Roueche’s and hiding out in Mexico because of his charges.

 

“He talks about Clay Roueche being his buddy at least four times,” Jardine said.

The first reference to Roueche came after Vallee asked the undercover cop if he had seen the movie Captain Phillips, Jardine said.

Vallee said that the Somali pirate upon which the Tom Hanks film is based is in the same U.S. prison as “my friend.”

Jardine said the recordings contain important evidence about Vallee’s “relationship or knowledge of and association to Clay Roueche.”  

Roueche is an alleged co-conspirator in the same murder case as Vallee, but has not been charged because he is serving a 30-year U.S. sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering.

When one of the undercover cops asked Vallee where he is from, Vallee said: “Read the paper tomorrow man … I’ll be front page.”

“This opening exchange between Mr. Vallee and the undercover police is illustrative of his desire to talk about what an important and notorious criminal he is,” Jardine said.

 Jardine said Vallee also offered voluntary comments about “fleeing Canada to go to Mexico through the United States, his lifestyle, what he does to avoid detection in Mexico, his knowledge of the offences with which he is charged in Canada and his knowledge of his co-accused or rather his co-conspirators.”

Vallee knew he was being recorded after his arrest and continued to make incriminating comments during his conversation with the under police, Jardine said.  

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo. LeClair was killed in a Langley parking lot in February 2009.

Jamie Bacon (left) and Kevin LeClair in an undated photo.

“Mr. Vallee’s awareness of being recorded negates any possibility of statements from him being actively elicited because he made the conscious choice to speak knowing they were being recorded,” Jardine said.

“He is exercising his freedom to choose to speak knowing the police are hearing it.”

Vallee is alleged to have gunned down LeClair in the parking lot of a Langley strip mall on Feb. 6, 2009 at the height of a gang war between the United Nations gang and Red Scorpions. He is also charged with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Scorpion associates over several months in 2008 and 2009.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

 

'Waves of emotion and pain': Crown seeks four years-plus for UN gangster in fatal hit and run

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Emily Sheane’s father and boyfriend were worried when the 25-year-old was late getting home from work last March 9.

So they hopped in the car and retraced the route she would have taken from her job at Joe Fortes in Vancouver’s West End to her home in Burnaby.

What they came upon was devastating — emergency workers and Sheane’s smashed-up Corolla at the intersection of Moscrop Street and Willingdon Avenue, just five minutes from her home.

The young woman was dead, after a speeding Range Rover driven by long-time United Nations gang member Ibrahim Ali ran a red light and struck the driver’s side of her car.

Ali has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident. His sentencing hearing started Thursday at Vancouver Provincial Court.

Crown Jonas Dow told Judge Harbans Dhillon that Ali should be sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in jail.

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

He described the horror of Sheane’s dad and long-time boyfriend Andrew arriving at the accident scene.

“As you can imagine, this discovery was devastating for this family and it is a level of devastation that is ongoing and persists until today,” Dow said.

Dow read from victim impact statements prepared by Sheane’s family and friends, who packed the gallery of Courtroom 307, hugging and weeping throughout the afternoon.

Sheane’s mom Judy said: “It’s every parent’s nightmare to have your daughter say she’s on her way home and she doesn’t show up.”

She said she was calling hospitals before they got the news that her 25-year-old daughter was gone.

“I am in shock and denial. I keep thinking it is just a bad nightmare and I’ll wake up and she’ll be there,” her statement said.

Friends of Emily Sheane console each other outside Vancouver Provincial Court on Thursday after the start of a sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, convicted of killing Sheane in a fatal hit and run on March 9, 2016.

Friends of Emily Sheane console each other outside Vancouver Provincial Court on Thursday after the start of a sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, convicted of killing Sheane in a fatal hit and run on March 9, 2016.

Sheane’s sister Jenny Berger said she has been overcome for months with “waves of emotion and pain, bringing with it crippling anxiety.”

Outside court, Berger said she feels let down by the sentence being proposed for Ali, who has a lengthy criminal history.

Ali’s lawyer Scott Wright told Dhillon that a three-year sentence would be more appropriate for Ali, whose life was “spiralling out of control” in the months before the fatal collision.

Neither Dow nor Wright mentioned Ali’s link to the notorious gang that was documented in an earlier trial.

Dow described the chaotic months leading up to the crash with Ali “embarking on a pattern of criminal behaviour” that led to numerous interactions with police.

He told Dhillon that the Range Rover Ali was driving had been purchased with a fraudulent cheque, as had two other vehicles.

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Between 2007, when Ali was still a teen, and 2012 he had 20 convictions, Dow said, including for assault, uttering threats, obstructing a peace officer, trafficking, break and enter, possession of a firearm and robbery.

Ali’s conduct after the accident was an aggravating factor, Dow said.

Both Ali and his passenger Nicole Vrban ran off as passersby tried to help Sheane.

They called a taxi, then hid out at a Burnaby motel until they got another vehicle. They put stolen plates on it and headed east.

When the duo were arrested in Creston, Ali lied about who he was and concocted another story about why he was dirty and covered in blood.

Police found searches for flights to Ontario and Europe on his iPad, Dow said.

But he also accepted that Ali was remorseful for Sheane’s death.

Ali, 26, sat in the prisoner’s box, wiping his eyes, his head down throughout the submissions.

He lost his grandfather in January 2016, who “was the closest there was to a father figure in his life,” Wright said. 

“He just didn’t care anymore … He was in a bit of a spiral, to put it mildly, leading up to what brings us here today.”

The sentencing hearing was adjourned to Dec. 21.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

Twitter.com/kbolan

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.

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REAL SCOOP: Crown wants 4 years for UN gangster in fatal hit and run

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It was an incredibly emotional day for family and friends of Emily Sheane at Vancouver Provincial Court Thursday. She’s the young woman who was on her way home from work last March when UN gangster Ibrahim Ali slammed a Range Rover into the side of her car, killing her instantly. He and his companion fled the scene and were caught in Creston four days later.

He has now pleaded guilty and his sentencing hearing began Thursday.

Dozens of people close to Sheane attended court, some very upset when they were told the courtroom wasn’t big enough for everyone to get it.

Judge Harbans Dhillon learned that some were waiting outside, so worked to find a new courtroom to accommodate everyone. 

The hearing didn’t finish and will continue Dec. 21. I was surprised that the Crown didn’t mention Ali’s gang links as an aggravating factor.

Here’s my story:

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

Emily Sheane, 25, was killed in a hit and run in Burnaby as she drove home from work on March 9, 2016. United Nations gang associate Ibrahim Ali pleaded guilty to the crime in October.

‘Waves of emotion and pain’: Crown seeks four years-plus for UN gangster in fatal hit and run

Emily Sheane’s father and boyfriend were worried when the 25-year-old was late getting home from work last March 9.

So they hopped in the car and retraced the route she would have taken from her job at Joe Fortes in Vancouver’s West End to her home in Burnaby.

What they came upon was devastating — emergency workers and Sheane’s smashed-up Corolla at the intersection of Moscrop Street and Willingdon Avenue, just five minutes from her home.

The young woman was dead, after a speeding Range Rover driven by long-time United Nations gang member Ibrahim Ali ran a red light and struck the driver’s side of her car.

Ali has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident. His sentencing hearing started Thursday at Vancouver Provincial Court.

 

Crown Jonas Dow told Judge Harbans Dhillon that Ali should be sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in jail.

He described the horror of Sheane’s dad and long-time boyfriend Andrew arriving at the accident scene.

“As you can imagine, this discovery was devastating for this family and it is a level of devastation that is ongoing and persists until today,” Dow said.

Dow read from victim impact statements prepared by Sheane’s family and friends, who packed the gallery of Courtroom 307, hugging and weeping throughout the afternoon.

Sheane’s mom Judy said: “It’s every parent’s nightmare to have your daughter say she’s on her way home and she doesn’t show up.”

She said she was calling hospitals before they got the news that her 25-year-old daughter was gone.

“I am in shock and denial. I keep thinking it is just a bad nightmare and I’ll wake up and she’ll be there,” her statement said.

Sheane’s sister Jenny Berger said she has been overcome for months with “waves of emotion and pain, bringing with it crippling anxiety.”

Outside court, Berger said she feels let down by the sentence being proposed for Ali, who has a lengthy criminal history.

Ali’s lawyer Scott Wright told Dhillon that a three-year sentence would be more appropriate for Ali, whose life was “spiralling out of control” in the months before the fatal collision.

Neither Dow nor Wright mentioned Ali’s link to the notorious gang that was documented in an earlier trial.

Dow described the chaotic months leading up to the crash with Ali “embarking on a pattern of criminal behaviour” that led to numerous interactions with police.

He told Dhillon that the Range Rover Ali was driving had been purchased with a fraudulent cheque, as had two other vehicles. 

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Ibrahim Ali (above), who in October pleaded guilty in the March hit and run death of Emily Sheane. Ali is involved in a sentencing hearing in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Between 2007, when Ali was still a teen, and 2012 he had 20 convictions, Dow said, including for assault, uttering threats, obstructing a peace officer, trafficking, break and enter, possession of a firearm and robbery.

Ali’s conduct after the accident was an aggravating factor, Dow said.

Both Ali and his passenger Nicole Vrban ran off as passersby tried to help Sheane.

They called a taxi, then hid out at a Burnaby motel until they got another vehicle. They put stolen plates on it and headed east.

When the duo were arrested in Creston, Ali lied about who he was and concocted another story about why he was dirty and covered in blood.

Police found searches for flights to Ontario and Europe on his iPad, Dow said.

But he also accepted that Ali was remorseful for Sheane’s death.

Ali, 26, sat in the prisoner’s box, wiping his eyes, his head down throughout the submissions.

He lost his grandfather in January 2016, who “was the closest there was to a father figure in his life,” Wright said. 

“He just didn’t care anymore … He was in a bit of a spiral, to put it mildly, leading up to what brings us here today.”

The sentencing hearing was adjourned to Dec. 21.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

Twitter.com/kbolan

Two people in hospital following violent incident at East Van home

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Two men are in hospital and two others are in police custody following a violent incident at an east Vancouver home on Friday morning.

The VPD emergency response team, negotiators, canine officers, and a number of uniformed police were called to a home near the corner of East Georgia Street and Boundary Round at 9 a.m. after receiving reports of reports of a fight, shots fired, and men armed with knives.

The entire 3600 block of East Georgia was blocked off for several hours by the VPD. Heavily-armed SWAT officers patrolled the alley behind the house and more than a dozen police cars and trucks were at the scene.

A patient is transferred from Burnaby Hospital to Royal Columbian Hospital after a violent incident at a home on East Georgian near Boundary Road.

A patient is transferred from Burnaby Hospital to Royal Columbian Hospital after a violent incident at a home on East Georgian near Boundary Road.

A man working on a house across the street said when police arrived in the area just before 9 a.m., they told the construction team to stop working so their nail guns wouldn’t be confused with the real thing.

The man said he saw four people escorted out of the house where the incident occurred by police. He also said he hadn’t seen nor heard anything suspicious at the house in the days preceding the violence.

The newer home is just half a block from Hells Angels clubhouse of the biker gang’s East End chapter.

Police say the home and crime scene have now been turned over to detectives as the investigation continues to determine what occurred.

Police have not released details about the injuries suffered by the men who were in hospital.

MORE TO COME

 

REAL SCOOP: Bacon associate facing firearms charges after Abby arrest

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A well-known Fraser Valley gangster is facing new charges after being arrested by gang cops this week for allegedly carrying a loaded gun.

Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal, a close associate of the Bacon brothers and the Red Scorpion gang, has been charged with one count of unauthorized possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a prohibited loaded firearm, one count of possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, and one count of possession contrary to an order.

Dhaliwal has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Abbotsford court on December 8.

On Nov. 29, officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, saw people in a vehicle that they believed to be connected to the on-going Townline Hill conflict in Abbotsford.

Those in he vehicle were “engaged in behavior consistent with drug trafficking,” CFSEU S.Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said Friday.

The vehicle was pulled over, but then tried to take off, before officers saw it again, Houghton said.

“A man was seen running from the vehicle as it again sped away. Uniformed gang enforcement team members quickly located and arrested him. A police dog was used to conduct an article search of the area and that is when a loaded 9mm handgun was discovered. The vehicle was not relocated,” Houghton said.

Police then got a warrant to search Dhaliwal’s residence in the 19800-block of 83 Avenue in Langley.

Houghton said officers found ammunition and a small pistol “suspected of being modified to shoot .22 caliber ammunition.”

He said the arrest shows the success of CFSEU’s integration with other policing agencies. 

Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal entering Langley funeral home where Jon Bacon visitation was held, August 2011

Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal entering Langley funeral home where Jon Bacon visitation was held, August 2011

“Without a carefully coordinated plan, we would not be able to disrupt the criminal behavior of individuals who are engaged in the most violent acts and take them and their guns off the streets.”

Dozens of arrests have been made so far in connection with the Townline Hill – named for the area around Townline Road where two groups involved in the drug trade have been battling since 2014.

There have been more than 40 acts of violence linked to the conflict, including three fatal shootings.

Like Dhaliwal, some of those involved have links to the Red Scorpion gang, members of which have been convicted in the Surrey Six slayings of 2007.

Dhaliwal, 34, was a close friend of Jonathan, Jamie and Jarrod Bacon.

Postmedia News saw Dhaliwal outside a funeral service for Jonathan after he was gunned down in Kelowna in August 2011.

And months later, a witness at Jarrod Bacon’s cocaine conspiracy trial claimed Dhaliwal was the financier backer of a major cocaine importation scheme.

But he was never charged in the case. Jarrod Bacon was convicted and is serving a 14-year sentence.

In 2012, Abbotsford Police set up a surveillance camera outside Dhaliwal’s family home after two shootings on the street.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

 

 

B.C. Hells Angels associate, rock frontman and fraudster dies months after being gunned down

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 A controversial rocker and Hells Angels associate convicted of stock fraud has died, three months after being shot in Burnaby, Postmedia News has learned.

Adis (Ady) Golic passed away Nov. 22 from injuries sustained in the targeted shooting.

The 41-year-old was gunned down on Aug. 22 around 8:30 p.m. in the 7700-block of 12th Avenue in Burnaby.

At the time, Mounties said the shooter was a white man, dressed all in black, who hopped into a dark-coloured getaway vehicle with a roof rack.

“There was at least one other person, the driver, in the vehicle, which fled the area at a high rate of speed,” Sgt. Derek Thibodeau said in an August news release. “Police believe this was a targeted shooting and the motive is part of the investigation.

Witnesses said the victim was found in an alley beside a townhouse complex and was believed to be living in the area.

Cpl. Meghan Foster, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, confirmed this week that the Golic case has been passed to IHIT and investigators are in the process of reviewing it.

Golic has crossed a number of people in his colourful past.

In 2011, he was convicted in Vancouver provincial court of running a boiler room operation and selling securities without being registered and without filing a prospectus.

He claimed to be selling shares in a company called AD Capital, which was developing new muffler technology that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 97 per cent. An expert testified at his trial that it was all bogus.

The prosecutor alleged Golic raised almost $600,000 illegally.

An elderly couple, both retired teachers in their 80s, testified that he pressured them in their own home to invest tens of thousands of dollars in the company.

Rocker and Hells Angels associate Adis (Ady) Golic died Nov. 22, 2016, from injuries sustained in a targeted shooting in August. These images are from a YouTube video produced for his band Skard. IHIT is now investigating.

Rocker and Hells Angels associate Adis (Ady) Golic died Nov. 22, 2016, from injuries sustained in a targeted shooting in August. These images are from a YouTube video produced for his band Skard. IHIT is now investigating.

The husband said that on one occasion, Golic actually walked him to the bank to get a draft.

Some of the money may have been used to produce the 2008 music video On the Highway, put out by Golic’s rock band Skard.

Featured in the video are two full-patch Hells Angels, including Golic’s friend and East End chapter president John Bryce.

Both are cruising down a rural road on their Harleys with a police car following behind them.

In 2012, Golic was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the couple.

In a similar case, he was charged with selling shares of another company, AC Energy Inc., without being registered and without filing a prospectus. He pleaded guilty in mid-trial and was fined $5,000.

In 2014, the B.C. Securities Commission imposed a seven-year ban on Golic buying or trading in securities or acting for any registered company as director, officer, promoter or consultant.

The commission noted that in addition to the two stock fraud cases, Golic had also been convicted of obstruction of justice and uttering threats after he threatened a witness.

Golic came to Canada from Bosnia as a 20-year-old in 1995 and settled in Burnaby. 

He started his band Skard in 2001.

Fans of the Skard and its frontman Golic were lamenting his death in tributes posted on Facebook, calling him a great musician and a kind man.

Fellow musician Brent Toews offered condolences to the family in a Nov. 23 post.

“I spent the better part of four years playing with Ady in the band Skard. We had many great times on and offstage, shooting video and recording in a few studios,” Toews wrote. “Your voice and guitar are silent now, but your music lives on as does your memory. R.I.P brother. See you on the other side.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.


REAL SCOOP: East Van police incident and other updates

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I was sent over to the police incident in East Vancouver this morning. The initial ScanBC report suggested someone might have been killed, though Vancouver Police later confirmed that two men were taken to hospital and two “persons of interest” were arrested.

We obviously wanted to see whether the situation had anything to do with the Hells Angels clubhouse at 3596 East Georgia. In fact, the house involved was on the other side of the street and about half a block east of the clubhouse.

There were a lot of officers there – Emergency Response Team, dog squad and patrol officers. I saw more than a dozen police cars and trucks.

 

VPD said they got called to the house just before 9 am “after receiving reports of a fight, shots fired and men with knives.”  
Police say two men have been arrested and two others were in hospital following a violent incident at a home on the east side of the city. [PNG Merlin Archive]

Police say two men have been arrested and two others were in hospital following a violent incident at a home on the east side of the city. [PNG Merlin Archive]

 
 
 
A man working on a house across the street told me that when police arrived said they told the construction team to stop working so nail guns wouldn’t be confused with the real thing.
The man said he saw four people escorted out of the house by police. He also said he hadn’t seen nor heard anything suspicious at the house in the days preceding the violence.
 
Cory Vallee trial:
 
I stopped by the trial late Friday,  but the courtroom was all close up and a sheriff told me the case has been adjourned until February. I will update you on the return date as soon as I know it.
 

REAL SCOOP: Shooting of HA associate, fraudster now a murder

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Adis (Ady) Golic has been in the news several times over the last decade.

His Burnaby “boiler room operation” was raided by security regulators and the police in 2008, as reported on at the time by my retired colleague David Baines.

Investigators seized call sheets, scripts and business records from Golic’s phone room in the 6900-block of Royal Oak where they said he was illegally selling shares to a U.S. company. 

He was convicted twice for stock fraud. He was convicted of intimidating a witness in one of the cases against him. 

And he’s known as the lead singer of Skard and for his association with the Hells Angels, in particular East End chapter president John Bryce.

He was shot in Burnaby in August. And he has now died of his injuries (something I learned from Real Scoop readers.)

Here’s my story:

B.C. Hells Angels associate, rock frontman and fraudster dies months after being gunned down

 A controversial rocker and Hells Angels associate convicted of stock fraud has died, three months after being shot in Burnaby, Postmedia News has learned.

Adis (Ady) Golic passed away Nov. 22 from injuries sustained in the targeted shooting.

The 41-year-old was gunned down on Aug. 22 around 8:30 p.m. in the 7700-block of 12th Avenue in Burnaby.

At the time, Mounties said the shooter was a white man, dressed all in black, who hopped into a dark-coloured getaway vehicle with a roof rack.

“There was at least one other person, the driver, in the vehicle, which fled the area at a high rate of speed,” Sgt. Derek Thibodeau said in an August news release. “Police believe this was a targeted shooting and the motive is part of the investigation.

 

Witnesses said the victim was found in an alley beside a townhouse complex and was believed to be living in the area.

Cpl. Meghan Foster, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, confirmed this week that the Golic case has been passed to IHIT and investigators are in the process of reviewing it.

Golic has crossed a number of people in his colourful past.

In 2011, he was convicted in Vancouver provincial court of running a boiler room operation and selling securities without being registered and without filing a prospectus.

He claimed to be selling shares in a company called AD Capital, which was developing new muffler technology that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 97 per cent. An expert testified at his trial that it was all bogus.

The prosecutor alleged Golic raised almost $600,000 illegally.

An elderly couple, both retired teachers in their 80s, testified that he pressured them in their own home to invest tens of thousands of dollars in the company.

The husband said that on one occasion, Golic actually walked him to the bank to get a draft.

Some of the money may have been used to produce the 2008 music video On the Highway, put out by Golic’s rock band Skard.

Featured in the video are two full-patch Hells Angels, including Golic’s friend and East End chapter president John Bryce.

Both are cruising down a rural road on their Harleys with a police car following behind them.

In 2012, Golic was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the couple.

In a similar case, he was charged with selling shares of another company, AC Energy Inc., without being registered and without filing a prospectus. He pleaded guilty in mid-trial and was fined $5,000.

In 2014, the B.C. Securities Commission imposed a seven-year ban on Golic buying or trading in securities or acting for any registered company as director, officer, promoter or consultant.

The commission noted that in addition to the two stock fraud cases, Golic had also been convicted of obstruction of justice and uttering threats after he threatened a witness.

Golic came to Canada from Bosnia as a 20-year-old in 1995 and settled in Burnaby. 

He started his band Skard in 2001.

Fans of the Skard and its frontman Golic were lamenting his death in tributes posted on Facebook, calling him a great musician and a kind man.

Fellow musician Brent Toews offered condolences to the family in a Nov. 23 post.

“I spent the better part of four years playing with Ady in the band Skard. We had many great times on and offstage, shooting video and recording in a few studios,” Toews wrote. “Your voice and guitar are silent now, but your music lives on as does your memory. R.I.P brother. See you on the other side.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

 

 

 

REAL SCOOP: Vancouver Police seize 56 kilograms of suspected cocaine

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Vancouver Police have seized 56 kilograms of suspected cocaine after stopping two men who were acting suspiciously Monday night.

Sgt. Brian Montague said the two men – one in his 20s and one in his 30s – were driving an SUV in East Vancouver about 7:30 p.m. when they caught officers’ attention.

“Officers observed behaviour they considered suspicious and subsequently located what they believed to be approximately four kilograms of cocaine. The vehicle was towed and police obtained a warrant to continue searching for additional evidence.” Montague said in a news release.

Another 52 kilograms of the suspected drug were found Tuesday during a search of the vehicle, he said.

Both men have been released, pending further investigation and lab results on the substance found.

“Criminal charges related to the possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking are expected to be recommended,” Montague said.

He said if the test is positive for cocaine, it would be worth  about $3 million with a street value of $4.5 million.

 

 

Mexican cartels to expand reach in Canada with visa changes

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Violent drug cartels are expected to expand their reach in Canada now that a visa requirement for Mexicans has been lifted, according to government documents obtained by Postmedia News.

The Canada Border Services Agency report says “the visa lift will make travel to Canada easier in order to establish or strengthen existing cartel smuggling chains.”

“In the next three years, Mexican drug cartels are expected to expand their presence in Canada by sending operatives and recruiting local airport or marine port workers with ties to Mexico,” says the document, obtained from a source.

Postmedia only obtained a section of the document titled: Implications for the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada.

Postmedia earlier reported on the increasing presence of Mexican cartels in Canada, as well as the fact that gangsters and organized criminals were working at the Port of Vancouver.

As of Dec. 1, Mexicans are no longer required to obtain a visa to come to Canada. The previous visa program had existed for seven years.

The CBSA document said the cartels generally don’t use tourists to smuggle drugs for them.

“While Mexican drug cartels do employ drug mules, they prefer shipments with high profitability and high likelihood of successful delivery,” the documents says. “As a result, they are expected to continue to focus their large scale smuggling efforts on commercial cargo in the marine, air and land modes given the higher likelihood of successful delivery and much higher profit margins.”

Mexican cartels have taken over legitimate businesses in Mexico in industries such as the production of goods and oil and mining, the CBSA report says.

“The flexibility and openness of free trade has proven beneficial to Mexican cartels over time,” it says. “Increasing trade ties will create additional opportunities for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle inside legitimate shipments, particularly using legitimate avenues such as the planned international trucking corridors for easier transport of higher cargo volumes between Canada and Mexico.”

And the CBSA document expresses concern about the possibility of the cartels starting to smuggle fentanyl into Canada.

“While China is the main source of fentanyl to Canada, increased regulations may result in Mexican drug cartels stepping in to fill any potential fentanyl shortage in Canada,” it says. “Mexican drug cartels play a significant role in current international fentanyl trafficking, with Mexico serving as a transshipment point for fentanyl precursors.”

CBSA media officer Line Guibert-Wolff said in an emailed statement that “Canada is working closely with Mexican partners to put in place measures to protect Canada against the risks associated with irregular migration.”

“The Government of Canada will continue to monitor and address any safety and security risks. The Public Safety portfolio, along with Canadian law enforcement partners across the country and abroad, work collaboratively and proactively to protect Canada’s safety and security. Combating serious and organized criminal activity is a priority,” Guibert-Wolff said.

Conservative Public Safety critic Tony Clement said the federal government should have paid more attention to the security risks associated with lifting the visa requirement.

“This is a concern and it could lead to Canadian lives being lost if the cartels move in,” he said. “I think this is a matter of the highest security and I think the government should reverse itself.”

Staff for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris said he would not comment on the document “as this is a federal matter.”

B.C. NDP Public Safety Critic Mike Farnworth said the information is concerning, but not surprising.

“I think this is one of the things the government needs to be frank about with Canadians and British Columbians. It is one thing to say yay, we are going to get more tourists but the reality is that we are also going to see increased opportunities for the criminal element, particularly Mexican drug cartels,” Farnworth said.

And he said “the government has got to be increasingly vigilant when it comes to potential for organized crime to infiltrate our transportation modes whether it be marine, whether it be air, or whether they be land.”

RCMP Supt. Cal Chrustie, an expert on cartels, said he didn’t feel comfortable commenting on the impact of the regulatory change.

But he said Mexican cartels and other transnational organized crime networks “(don’t) respect laws, regulations or authorities in their illegal efforts regardless.”

“We know that transnational organized crime networks in Canada have criminal business relationships with Mexican cartels,” Chrustie said.

He said Canadian crime organizations purchase cocaine and other drugs from Mexican cartels.

“The Canadian organized crime networks also work with the Mexican cartels in laundering/repatriating money from drug deals between the groups. It is usually about illegal profits with the cartels,” Chrustie said. “We will continue to monitor all external threats from transnational organized crime networks, and the cartel activity is one we will monitor closely as we have always done.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

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REAL SCOOP: Cartel expansion expected here after visa elimination

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I was leaked part of an interesting Canada Border Service Agency document that warned about the expansion of cartels in Canada due to the elimination of the visa for Mexicans on Dec. 1.

I had already heard this might be an issue and have requested other documents through the Access to Information Act. I am still awaiting documents.

Of course, the cartels already have their own point people here. And they work with Canadian criminal organizations as I have already documented.

Here’s my story :

Mexican cartels to expand reach in Canada with visa changes 

Violent drug cartels are expected to expand their reach in Canada now that a visa requirement for Mexicans has been lifted, according to government documents obtained by Postmedia News.

The Canada Border Services Agency report says “the visa lift will make travel to Canada easier in order to establish or strengthen existing cartel smuggling chains.”

“In the next three years, Mexican drug cartels are expected to expand their presence in Canada by sending operatives and recruiting local airport or marine port workers with ties to Mexico,” says the document, obtained from a source.

Postmedia only obtained a section of the document titled: Implications for the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada.

Postmedia earlier reported on the increasing presence of Mexican cartels in Canada, as well as the fact that gangsters and organized criminals were working at the Port of Vancouver.

As of Dec. 1, Mexicans are no longer required to obtain a visa to come to Canada. The previous visa program had existed for seven years.

The CBSA document said the cartels generally don’t use tourists to smuggle drugs for them.

“While Mexican drug cartels do employ drug mules, they prefer shipments with high profitability and high likelihood of successful delivery,” the documents says. “As a result, they are expected to continue to focus their large scale smuggling efforts on commercial cargo in the marine, air and land modes given the higher likelihood of successful delivery and much higher profit margins.”

Mexican cartels have taken over legitimate businesses in Mexico in industries such as the production of goods and oil and mining, the CBSA report says.

“The flexibility and openness of free trade has proven beneficial to Mexican cartels over time,” it says. “Increasing trade ties will create additional opportunities for Mexican drug cartels to smuggle inside legitimate shipments, particularly using legitimate avenues such as the planned international trucking corridors for easier transport of higher cargo volumes between Canada and Mexico.”

And the CBSA document expresses concern about the possibility of the cartels starting to smuggle fentanyl into Canada.

“While China is the main source of fentanyl to Canada, increased regulations may result in Mexican drug cartels stepping in to fill any potential fentanyl shortage in Canada,” it says. “Mexican drug cartels play a significant role in current international fentanyl trafficking, with Mexico serving as a transshipment point for fentanyl precursors.”

CBSA media officer Line Guibert-Wolff said in an emailed statement that “Canada is working closely with Mexican partners to put in place measures to protect Canada against the risks associated with irregular migration.”

“The Government of Canada will continue to monitor and address any safety and security risks. The Public Safety portfolio, along with Canadian law enforcement partners across the country and abroad, work collaboratively and proactively to protect Canada’s safety and security. Combating serious and organized criminal activity is a priority,” Guibert-Wolff said.

Conservative Public Safety critic Tony Clement said the federal government should have paid more attention to the security risks associated with lifting the visa requirement.

“This is a concern and it could lead to Canadian lives being lost if the cartels move in,” he said. “I think this is a matter of the highest security and I think the government should reverse itself.”

Staff for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris said he would not comment on the document “as this is a federal matter.”

B.C. NDP Public Safety Critic Mike Farnworth said the information is concerning, but not surprising.

“I think this is one of the things the government needs to be frank about with Canadians and British Columbians. It is one thing to say yay, we are going to get more tourists but the reality is that we are also going to see increased opportunities for the criminal element, particularly Mexican drug cartels,” Farnworth said.

And he said “the government has got to be increasingly vigilant when it comes to potential for organized crime to infiltrate our transportation modes whether it be marine, whether it be air, or whether they be land.”

RCMP Supt. Cal Chrustie, an expert on cartels, said he didn’t feel comfortable commenting on the impact of the regulatory change.

But he said Mexican cartels and other transnational organized crime networks “(don’t) respect laws, regulations or authorities in their illegal efforts regardless.”

“We know that transnational organized crime networks in Canada have criminal business relationships with Mexican cartels,” Chrustie said.

He said Canadian crime organizations purchase cocaine and other drugs from Mexican cartels.

“The Canadian organized crime networks also work with the Mexican cartels in laundering/repatriating money from drug deals between the groups. It is usually about illegal profits with the cartels,” Chrustie said. “We will continue to monitor all external threats from transnational organized crime networks, and the cartel activity is one we will monitor closely as we have always done.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

 

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