B.C. agency sues for cash found in stolen safe

A couple who reported a stolen safe, then refused to open it when Vancouver police recovered it, are facing a government lawsuit over the more than $130,000 found inside.

Andrew Voong and Winnie Marcy So called the VPD on April 3 to report a break-in at their condo on the 11th floor of 8189 Cambie St. When officers arrived, Voong told them the only thing missing was the safe, which he claimed contained between $5,000 and $6,000, a Rado watch and several stock and bond certificates, according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 13 by the B.C. director of civil forfeiture.

Police followed a trail of debris — they saw damage to the condo door, then to the 11th-floor stairwell door. They saw concrete bits littering the eighth-floor hallway, which stopped at Unit 803.

The VPD secured the eighthfloor suite and got a search warrant. A day later, court order in hand, officers entered and found the safe.

“After recovering the safe, the VPD asked the defendants to open it. The defendants refused to open the safe and would no longer co-operate with the VPD,” the government agency alleges.

Police got a new search warrant for the safe and found “a number of shoeboxes containing the money, which was bundled or packaged in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices, a bag containing a restricted firearm and 43 pieces of ammunition and several records of transactions, including sale, collection and debt ('score sheets').” The cash was tested and found to have “the presence of fentanyl and cocaine” on it.

The director of civil forfeiture says the money came from unlawful activity including possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking, possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition, obstructing a police officer, possession of the proceeds of crime, and failure to declare taxable income.

He wants the cash forfeited to the B.C. government.

Neither Voong nor So have yet filed a response to the allegations.

The two-bedroom condo where they were living is currently assessed at $782,000 and owned by two people who live in Hong Kong, according to assessment records. The eighth-floor unit where the safe was found is assessed at $821,000 and is owned by a Richmond resident.

Neither Voong nor So have a criminal record in B.C., according to the online court database.

But the government says “the defendants obtained the money by participating in the unlawful activity.”