B.C. Hells Angels seek federal appeal after 3 clubhouses seized

The lawyer representing Angel Acres and Festivals, as well as several individual Hells Angels motorcycle club members, says the group has filed an application with the Supreme Court of Canada seeking leave to appeal B.C.'s seizure of three of its clubhouses.

On Feb. 15, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned a 2020 ruling in B.C. Supreme Court that allowed the biker gang to retain ownership of three properties because the forfeiture office failed to prove they would be used to commit crimes.

Then on April 14, B.C.'s civil forfeiture office moved in on the three clubhouses in Nanaimo, Vancouver and Kelowna to seize the properties, valued at about $3 million combined.

Police officers also accompanied the civil forfeiture office to "keep the peace" during the seizure.

At the time, B.C. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said he was "extremely pleased" about the seizures, adding that it sent "a very strong message that crime doesn’t pay."

"As we've known for a long time, the Hells Angels is a criminal organization," Farnworth told CTV News in an interview.

"It doesn't matter if it's a clubhouse or other asset – a high-value car or high-value boat – if it's been obtained through organized crime, they're going to lose it," he said.

On Friday, Angel Acres and Festivals lawyer Alison M. Latimer told CTV News that the organization was appealing the province's seizure of the properties in Canada's highest court.

The application was filed Monday, and Latimer says it could taking months for the Supreme Court of Canada to decide if it will hear the appeal or not.

With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Todd Coyne