1  (1) In this Act:

"director" means the Director of Criminal Asset Management designated under section 2;

"eligible victim" means a person who

(a) suffered pecuniary loss as a direct result of a criminal or quasi-criminal activity that resulted in forfeiture, to which this Act applies, of property,

(b) did not engage, directly or indirectly, in the commission of the criminal or quasi-criminal activity, and

(c) meets the criteria prescribed under this Act;

"fund" means the Criminal Asset Management Fund continued under section 12;

"proceeds of crime" means any property, benefit or advantage that

(a) falls within the definition of “proceeds of crime” in section 462.3 of the Criminal Code, or

(b) is obtained or derived, directly or indirectly, as a result of an act or omission that, in the jurisdiction in which the act or omission occurs, constitutes an offence;

"property" includes a portion of property or a portion of an interest in property;

"relevant provision" means a provision of the Criminal Code or any other federal Act prescribed as a relevant provision.

(2) A relevant provision prescribed under section 15 is deemed to include any similar provision of an enactment of a jurisdiction outside of Canada.

2  (1) The minister may, in writing, designate as Director of Criminal Asset Management a person who is appointed under the Public Service Act.

(2) The director may delegate, with or without conditions, any or all of the powers, functions and duties of the director under this Act to a person or class of persons.

(3) A delegation under subsection (2) must be in writing and may include any terms or conditions the director considers appropriate.

3  (1) The director is responsible for the following:

(a) taking possession and control of, and managing or otherwise dealing with, property that is the subject of a management order obtained by the minister under section 83.13, 462.331 or 490.81 of the Criminal Code;

(b) administering and managing property that is the subject of a restraint order obtained by the minister under section 83.13, 462.33 or 490.8 of the Criminal Code;

(c) taking possession and control of, preserving, managing, disposing of or otherwise dealing with property that is forfeited to the government under section 83.14, 199, 462.37, 462.38, 462.43, 490, 490.01, 490.1, 490.2 or 491.1 of the Criminal Code;

(d) taking possession and control of, preserving, managing, disposing of or otherwise dealing with property that is forfeited to the government under a relevant provision.

(2) The director must perform any additional duties assigned to the director by the minister.

4  (1) The director may take possession and control of, preserve, manage, dispose of or otherwise deal with any property described in section 3 (1) (c) or (d) in any manner that the director considers appropriate.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the director may

(a) take possession and control of, and preserve or manage, the property for the length of time and on the terms that the director considers appropriate,

(b) dispose of the property at the price and on the terms that the director considers appropriate,

(c) do anything the director considers advisable for the ongoing management or operation of the property before its final disposition, including

(i)  complying with the terms of any order to which the property is subject, including an order to comply with environmental, industrial, labour or property standards or to pay taxes, utility charges or other charges, or

(ii)  making improvements or repairs to the property to maintain its economic value,

(d) dispose of perishable or rapidly depreciating property, or

(e) destroy property that has little or no value.

5  (1) Any money received by the director, or realized from the disposition of property referred to in section 3 (1) (a) or (b), that has not yet been forfeited to the government or had its entitlement otherwise determined in accordance with law must be held in trust by the director.

(2) Unless the money is forfeited to the government, the director must pay money held in trust and any interest or other income earned on the money to the person determined to be entitled to that money.

(3) If money held in trust under this section is forfeited to the government, the director must pay the money and any interest or other income earned on that money into the fund.

6  Property that is forfeited to the government as described in section 3 (1) (c) or (d) must be dealt with by the director as provided under sections 3 and 4.

7  A person may apply, in accordance with the regulations, for compensation from the fund as an eligible victim.

8  (1) Subject to this Act and the regulations and on receipt of an application under section 7, the director may pay to an eligible victim an amount in the circumstances and subject to the conditions and limitations that the director considers appropriate.

(2) Despite subsection (1), the director may not pay to an eligible victim of a criminal or quasi-criminal activity a total amount that exceeds the sum of

(a) any money forfeited as a result of the activity, and

(b) the net proceeds, as determined by the regulations, resulting from the disposition of any property forfeited as a result of the activity.

9  In compensating an eligible victim under section 8, the director may do the following:

(a) pay an eligible victim in one or more installments;

(b) prorate payments, in accordance with the regulations, among eligible victims or a category of eligible victims.

10  On application to the director, or on the director’s own initiative, the director may reconsider a decision under section 8 or 9 respecting the payment of compensation or eligibility for compensation.

11  If an eligible victim receives from the fund money that is in excess of the amount awarded to the eligible victim under this Act, the eligible victim is liable to repay to the director the amount of compensation to which that eligible victim was not entitled.

12  (1) The Forfeited Crime Proceeds Fund, established under the Special Accounts Appropriation and Control Act, is continued as a special account in the general fund of the consolidated revenue fund to be known as the Criminal Asset Management Fund.

(2) The fund consists of

(a) the closing balance in the Forfeited Crime Proceeds Fund at the end of the day before this section comes into force, and

(b) the money paid into the special account under subsection (3).

(3) The following must be paid into the fund:

(a) any money provided to the minister or the government as proceeds of crime by or on behalf of

(i)  the government of Canada, or

(ii)  the government of a jurisdiction referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “proceeds of crime”;

(b) any money provided to the minister or the government that was paid as a fine under

(i)  section 462.37 (3) of the Criminal Code,

(ii)  any similar provision in any other federal Act, or

(iii)  any similar provision of the laws of a jurisdiction outside of Canada;

(c) any money forfeited under section 83.14, 199, 462.37, 462.38, 462.43, 490, 490.01, 490.1, 490.2 or 491.1 of the Criminal Code and provided to the minister or the government;

(d) any money forfeited under a relevant provision and provided directly to the minister or the government, or by or on behalf of

(i)  the government of Canada, or

(ii)  the government of a jurisdiction referred to in section 1 (2);

(e) any money realized from the disposition of property by the director under section 4;

(f) any money and interest or other income referred to in section 5 (3);

(g) any money repaid to the director under section 11.

(4) Despite section 21 (3) of the Financial Administration Act but subject to this Act and the regulations, the director may make payments out of the fund for one or more of the following purposes:

(a) compensation of eligible victims;

(b) crime prevention and remediation;

(c) administration of this Act, including, without limitation, any costs related to taking possession and control of, preserving, managing, disposing of or otherwise dealing with property for the purposes of this Act;

(d) other prescribed purposes.

(5) The director may make payments out of the fund for purposes referred to in subsection (4) (d) only with the approval of the Minister of Finance.

(6) The cumulative total of amounts paid out of the special account under subsection (4) must not be larger than the cumulative total of the balance referred to in subsection (2) (a) and the amounts paid into the special account under subsection (3).

13  (1) A person must not

(a) interfere with, impede or obstruct the director or any person acting on behalf of the director in carrying out or attempting to carry out the director’s duties under this Act, or

(b) withhold, destroy or conceal, or refuse to furnish, any information or thing required by the director or any person acting on behalf of the director for the purposes of managing property referred to in section 3.

(2) A person must not knowingly make a false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing, to the director or any person acting on behalf of the director while he or she is engaged in carrying out his or her duties under this Act.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence.

14  Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or the regulations.

15  (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) prescribing a relevant provision for the purpose of section 3 (1) (d) [director’s responsibilities];

(b) prescribing a relevant provision for the purpose of section 12 (3) (d) [forfeited money];

(c) respecting compensation of eligible victims under this Act, including the application for and the information in support of an application for compensation under this Act;

(d) respecting circumstances in which no payment of compensation may be made to an eligible victim or a category of eligible victims;

(e) respecting the process for adjudication of an application for compensation and the factors, if any, to be considered in determining the amount of compensation to be awarded to an eligible victim;

(f) establishing circumstances in which an amount is required to be deducted or set off from another amount that is to be paid under this Act to an eligible victim;

(g) respecting the fund and payments from the fund;

(h) respecting any other matter for which regulations are contemplated by this Act.

(3) In making regulations under this section, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may do one or more of the following:

(a) make different regulations for different circumstances or classes of persons, property or criminal or quasi-criminal activity;

(b) delegate a matter to a person;

(c) confer a discretion on a person.

Special Accounts Appropriation and Control Act

16 Sections 7 and 10 (2) (a) and (b) of the Special Accounts Appropriation and Control Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 436, are repealed.

17  This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.