Money laundering and civil forfeiture

Civil forfeiture is a process to bring legal proceedings against assets such as cash, cars, homes and other luxury goods linked to gangs, organized crime, money laundering and other unlawful activity.

Learn more about how the Province of B.C. and our federal partners are using the civil forfeiture process to stop money laundering.

Actions taken by the Province of B.C.

Unexplained wealth orders

Unexplained wealth orders are a type of court order that require a person to explain how they acquired or maintain their assets. Unexplained wealth orders help government address common money laundering techniques, such as hiding assets with family members or associates, by targeting the wealth of organized crime.

To start the process, the Director of Civil Forfeiture applies to the court to seek an unexplained wealth order in cases where there is a reason to suspect a person is involved in illegal activities. The Director of Civil Forfeiture must establish to the satisfaction of the court that the respondent:

• Is involved in unlawful activity
• Holds property above $75,000 in value
• Lacks sufficient legitimate income to acquire or maintain the specified property
• Used money from their unlawful activity to acquire or maintain the specified property, or
• Used the property for unlawful purposes

If the court grants the unexplained wealth order, the respondent must provide detailed evidence about their acquisition and maintenance of the property.

Learn about the unexplained wealth orders that B.C. has issued:

• Minister's statement on filing of unexplained wealth order (September 9, 2024)
• Minister's statement on unexplained wealth order related to luxury goods (March 27, 2024)
• Minister's statement on filing the next unexplained wealth order (December 14, 2023)
• Minister's statement on filing the first unexplained wealth order (November 30, 2023)

Partnership with the Government of Canada

The Province of B.C. is working with the Government of Canada and other provincial and territorial forfeiture programs to enhance the capacity of the forfeiture offices to allow for thorough investigations and enhance their existing work. In addition, the Civil Forfeiture Office is consulting with other jurisdictions to discuss their models for investigations and analysis. Learn more about the Civil Forfeiture Office.

Through an upcoming amendment to the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, the federal government will enable the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada to share suspicious financial activity reports with provincial and territorial forfeiture offices.