Docket: A-116-15
Citation: 2016 FCA 41
|
CORAM:
|
NOËL C.J.
SCOTT J.A.
DE MONTIGNY J.A.
|
|
BETWEEN:
|
|
JEAN-MARC POULIN DE COURVAL
acting as bankruptcy trustee for Ergün
Bouloud
|
|
Appellant
|
|
and
|
|
MINISTER OF
PUBLIC SAFETY
AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
|
|
Respondent
|
Heard
at Montréal, Quebec on February 8, 2016.
Judgment delivered from the bench at Montréal, Quebec, on
February 8, 2016.
|
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF THE COURT BY:
|
NOËL
C.J.
|
Docket: A-116-15
Citation: 2016 FCA 41
|
CORAM:
|
NOËL C.J.
SCOTT J.A.
DE MONTIGNY J.A.
|
|
BETWEEN:
|
|
JEAN-MARC
POULIN DE COURVAL
acting as bankruptcy trustee for Ergün
Bouloud
|
|
Appellant
|
|
and
|
|
MINISTER OF
PUBLIC SAFETY
AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
|
|
Respondent
|
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT OF
THE COURT
(Delivered from the bench at Montréal,
Quebec, on February 8, 2016.)
NOËL C.J.
[1]
This is an appeal from a decision rendered by
Justice Bédard, a member of the Federal Court (2015 FC 186) at the time,
dismissing the motion for judicial review initially presented by Ergün Bouloud
(the bankrupt) and subsequently pursued by Jean-Marc Poulin de Courval, acting
as Mr. Bouloud's bankruptcy trustee (the trustee), of a decision rendered
by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Minister),
disallowing the refund of the currency seized as forfeit under the Proceeds
of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, S.C. 2000, c. 17
(the Act).
[2]
Given the principle propounded by this Court in Sellathurai
v. Canada (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2008 FCA
255, [2008] F.C.J. No. 1267 at paragraph 50, as confirmed and applied in Canada
(Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v. Huang, 2014 FCA
228, [2014] F.C.J. No. 1010 at paragraphs 22, 55 and 59, our intervention is
not warranted.
[3]
As stated in these cases, the Ministers'
discretion under section 29 is limited. The only question which arises under
this provision is whether the evidence submitted regarding the forfeited
currency satisfactorily shows that it does not represent the proceeds of crime.
The trustee, by replacing the bankrupt in this proceeding, could not claim
greater rights and was therefore subject to the same restrictions.
[4]
The bona fide owner of forfeited property
is, however, not left unprotected, as the remedy provided for under section 32
ultimately allows the Superior Court to order restitution of the forfeited
property, provided that the claimant's bona fide interest as owner is shown.
[5]
The appeal will be dismissed with costs.
“Marc Noël”
Translation
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
SOLICITORS
OF RECORD
|
DOCKET:
|
A-116-15
|
|
|
STYLE OF CAUSE:
|
JEAN-MARC
POULIN DE COURVAL ACTING AS BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE FOR ERGÜN BOULOUD v. MINISTER
OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
|
|
|
PLACE OF HEARING:
|
Montréal, QuEbec
|
|
DATE OF HEARING:
|
February 8, 2016
|
|
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
OF THE COURT BY:
|
NOËL C.J.
SCOTT J.A.
DE MONTIGNY J.A.
|
|
DELIVERED
FROM THE BENCH BY:
|
NOËL C.J.
|
|
|
|
|
APPEARANCES:
|
Jean-Philippe Gervais
|
For the
appellant
|
|
Maguy Hachem
|
For the
respondent
|
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
|
Jean-Philippe Gervais
Montreal, Quebec
|
For the
appellant
|
|
William F. Pentney
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
|
For the
respondent
|
Email this Content