lördag 12 maj 2018

Former Hells Angel testifies at B.C. civil forfeiture trial

A former member of the Hells Angels who became a police informant and is now in witness protection provided a window into the way the motorcycle group operates as he testified Tuesday in a case that’s testing the constitutionality of B.C.’s civil forfeiture law. 

B.C.’s Civil Forfeiture Office has argued three Hells Angels clubhouses – in Vancouver, Kelowna and Nanaimo – should be forfeited because they are likely to be used to plan crimes. Lawyers for the Hells Angels have not yet opened their case but are expected to argue that a section of the province’s civil forfeiture legislation is unconstitutional. The trial in the case opened last week in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. 

On Tuesday, lawyers for the Civil Forfeiture Office called David Atwell as their witness. Mr. Atwell was previously a member of the Hells Angels in Toronto. The court did not disclose his location and the video screen through which he was testifying was shielded from public view.

Mr. Atwell, who has co-authored a book on his experiences and now lives under a different name, said he is being paid $75,000 for his testimony. A B.C. government spokesperson confirmed the payment. Mr. Atwell told the court his life is at risk and the compensation was for opening himself up to the court process.

Mr. Atwell told the court he started working when he was 18 and had two jobs, one in security and one at a Toronto bar. He said he met members of a motorcycle club known as the Para-Dice Riders at the bar and in 1999 became a prospective member. He said he was a striker, which essentially meant he was at the beck and call of the group’s members, doing tasks such as cleaning the clubhouse and driving members around.

Mr. Atwell said he became a full-patch member of the Hells Angels in 2000, after the Para-Dice Riders and other clubs in Ontario “patched over” and became chapters of the Hells Angels.
Mr. Atwell said he agreed to join the Hells Angels because his friends were doing so and he did not believe it would be much of a change.

He said the Hells Angels, like the Para-Dice Riders, held weekly meetings that were referred to as “church.” The Hells Angels Toronto clubhouse had members or associates on hand 24 hours a day, he said, to deter police from installing listening devices.

He said he became a police agent in 2005 – though it was unclear from his testimony exactly why – and was instructed by police to purchase drugs from Hells Angels members. Mr. Atwell is expected to continue his testimony Wednesday.

The Civil Forfeiture Office has argued one of the main purposes of the Hells Angels is the facilitation or commission of serious offences that are likely to benefit the group. The office has said the Hells Angels pursue those benefits through a brand that is in part associated with violence and intimidation.

Lawyers representing the Hells Angels are expected to argue the B.C. government has created a new criminal process that lacks the presumption of innocence and protections against self-incrimination.
The Globe and Mail has reported extensively on the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office, which does not need a criminal conviction or charges to pursue a file. The office was originally billed as a way to fight organized crime, but has come to have a far broader reach. 

The Globe has interviewed those who have had to fight to keep their homes, vehicles and cash. Others have been unable to afford a defence. Cases led by the office face a lower standard of proof than criminal cases – on a balance of probabilities rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-former-hells-angel-testifies-at-bc-civil-forfeiture-trial/

onsdag 9 maj 2018

En razzia avslöjade Hells Angels gängkonto i Handelsbanken

Ett gängkonto i Handelsbanken avslöjades när polisen slog till mot Hells Angels.
Beslagtagna utdrag från kontot visar mc-gängets resor, medlemsavgifter – och misstänkta utpressningspengar.
Två HA-män - 37 och 43 år - ställs nu inför rätta efter en misstänkt miljonutpressning.

Polisen slog till på flera adresser kopplade till Hells Angels Stockholm i en gryningsräd den 21 februari i år.
Bakgrunden var en kraftsamling mot misstänkta ekobrott, enligt ett polis-pm:
”I ärendet påbörjades hemlig telefonavlyssning samt andra utredningsaktiviteter. I avlyssningsmaterialet men även i olika mobiltömningar har det framträtt en bild av att en typ av utlåningsverksamhet kan misstänkas drivas i Hells Angels-miljön.”
Två män - en 43-årig medlem i Hells Angels och en 37-årig HA-supporter - ställs under onsdagen inför rätta åtalade för grov utpressning och försök till grov utpressning.

 

Sålde sin lägenhet

Männen ska ha tvingat till sig närmare 1,1 miljoner kronor från en man i 35-årsåldern i södra Stockholm.
Han ska bland annat ha tvingats att sälja sin lägenhet och föra över hela vinsten till HA-männen. I förhör berättar han om hur 43-åringen tryckte en revolver mot hans huvud i en bil:
– Och då säger han att om du vill så kan jag dra ut dig i skogen nu och skjuta dig.

Bland annat betalade han direkt från sitt Handelsbanken-konto ut 150 000 kronor till ett annat konto i Handelsbanken kallat ”Stiftelsen för social omsorg om mc-bröder”.
Det har i polisutredningen visat sig vara Hells Angels Stockholms gängkonto. Ett företagskonto med tillhörande ”business card”. Utdrag visar medlemmarnas löpande inbetalningar av hyror, resor, presentköp och i några fall ”betalning av mc”. De 150 000 kronorna från brottsoffret står noterade som ”skuld”.


Åklagaren Rasmus Öman:
– De här två personerna har krävt målsäganden på mycket pengar, över en miljon sammanlagt. Deras kopplingar till Hells Angels har, menar jag, varit en bidragande orsak till brottet och att målsäganden betalat ut de här pengarna.

LÄS MER: Hells Angels lämnade över 335 000 kronor – i en påse

Vill inte kommentera

De två HA-männen har varit fåordiga i förhör men 43-åringens advokat Slobodan Jovicic och 37-åringens advokat Jonas Granfelt säger att klienterna förnekar brott, men hänvisar i övrigt till rättegången.
Johan Wallqvist, presschef på Handelsbanken, vill inte kommentera HA-kontot:
”Generellt är det så att vi är förhindrade att uttala oss om vem eller vilka som har konto i banken eller inte på grund av lagstadgad banksekretess”.

LÄS MER: Kartläggning – MC-gängens nästen i Västsverige

https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/razzia-avslojade-hells-angels-gangkonto-i-handelsbanken/