PacNet Services Ltd., a Vancouver fintech designated by American authorities as “significant transnational criminal organization” in 2016 for its alleged involvement in mail and wire fraud, has been subject to what B.C.’s solicitor general calls the largest asset seizure in the history of the Civil Forfeiture Office.
The B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office today concluded proceedings against PacNet that will result in the seizure of $10 million, according to the B.C. Solicitor General’s office.
"This is the single largest forfeiture of assets in the history of the civil forfeiture program,” said Mike Farnworth, solicitor general and minister of Public Safety.
"PacNet Services Ltd. will forfeit the $10 million pursuant to a settlement agreement with the director of civil forfeiture, under which there has been no admission or finding of unlawful activity on the part of PacNet Services Ltd. or its principals."
PacNet was headquartered in B.C. and offered a third-party payment processing service that American authorities alleged had been implicated in mail and wire fraud that mainly targeted senior citizens in the U.S.
As BIV News reported, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) placed the PacNet Group, several affiliates and a dozen owners and employees on a list that designated them a “significant transnational criminal organization” in 2016 and authorities seized American assets belonging to PacNet and its affiliates.
The designation was lifted in 2017, but the mere designation was enough to put PacNet and its affiliates out of business. A number of the company’s principals were charged in the U.S. with various offences, and earlier this year, two Long Island men implicated in a scam that used PacNet services were handed jail sentences.
Here at home, a Vancouver Police Department investigation that alleged PacNet knowingly did business for decades with people involved in “predatory mail-fraud schemes, primarily targeting the elderly and vulnerable” led the B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture to seek court approval to seize the companies’ assets in 2018 and begin proceedings.
"I wish to specially acknowledge the work of the Vancouver Police Department which investigated PacNet and referred the matter to the Civil Forfeiture Office, as well as the financial intelligence provided by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) which supported this process," Farnworth said.
"I can confirm that we will continue to pursue the forfeiture of assets that are suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity and redirect them to community safety and crime-prevention initiatives. This major forfeiture sends a clear message that British Columbia will continue to take decisive action against suspected proceeds of unlawful activity.
--With files from Bob Mackin
