The British Columbia government has launched a civil forfeiture action to seize three properties valued at more than $11 million, allegedly linked to a longtime gangster accused of aiding an Indian-based criminal network involved in drug trafficking, extortion, and contract killings.
The director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit against Garinder Deo on Wednesday, a day after police raided his $5.5 million West Vancouver home as part of a sweeping U.S. investigation known as Operation Hard Ball. The FBI-led probe targeted the Bishnoi gang, the Bhagwanpuria group, and the Dhanda drug trafficking organization.
Properties targeted in forfeiture claim
The statement of claim identifies three properties: 2030 Westdean Cres. in West Vancouver, 12645 26A Ave. in Surrey, and 16087 59 Ave. in Surrey. The director alleges these are proceeds of criminal activity and should be forfeited to the crown.
“G. Deo is a member of a criminal organization involved in profit-generating unlawful activity,” the director alleged in the court document. Deo, a 40-year-old associate of the Wolfpack gang, has not yet been located following the arrests of 24 individuals on Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit, Deo owns the properties “directly or indirectly” through his company 1163658 B.C. Ltd., his wife’s company GSMD Enterprises Ltd., and through his sister and brother-in-law. His wife Aleksandra Ponomareva, sister Harinder Kaur Deo, and her spouse Lakhbir Singh Gill are also named as defendants.
Allegations of criminal enterprise
The director asserts that none of the defendants had “legitimate income and/or business activity sufficient to acquire, finance, maintain, or preserve” the three properties. The lawsuit draws on findings from a joint U.S.-RCMP investigation into “organized criminal activity, international drug trafficking, extortion, racketeering and violence.”
Deo is charged in California with aiding the Bhagwanpuria gang “by purchasing bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin that were to be shipped from Southern California to the eastern United States.” The court document further states: “Deo has been associated with high-level organized crime, organized criminal gangs in the greater Vancouver area as well as international criminal syndicates, drug trafficking, importation or exportation, money laundering, trafficking in firearms and violence and enriching international criminal organizations and terrorist groups.”
It also notes that “Deo has been the subject of police warnings and police intelligence relating to organized crime risk and violence.” The government agency claims “Deo directly or indirectly engaged in, facilitated, benefited from, conspired in, or was associated with unlawful activity.”
Ongoing legal proceedings
Ravinder Dhanda of Surrey, alleged head of the Dhanda drug trafficking organization, along with two associates Jaskarn Baghri and Gurtej Smagh, appeared in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday. Details of the proceedings are covered by a publication ban. The forfeiture lawsuit is separate from the criminal charges, and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
