A Surrey towing business denies buying hundreds of catalytic converters despite knowing they had been stolen, as government lawsuit alleges
A Surrey towing business bought hundreds of catalytic converters despite knowing they had been stolen, a B.C. government lawsuit alleges.
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The lawsuit, filed Nov. 25 by the provincial director of civil forfeiture, seeks to seize the house belonging to business owner Jasvindar Singh and more than $210,000 cash found inside.
The allegations stem from a Burnaby RCMP investigation that began in 2021 and targeted offenders stealing the valuable car parts.
“During the investigation, J. Singh was identified as a buyer of stolen catalytic converters and would knowingly purchase stolen catalytic converters,” the director’s statement of claim alleged.
It also said Singh would recycle the converters through his business, A-Jazz Mobile Trading and Towing, on 76th Avenue in Surrey.
“Between June 10, 2022 and May 24, 2023, J. Singh purchased several catalytic converters from an undercover police officer with the understanding that they were stolen.”
Catalytic converters, part of a car’s exhaust system designed to reduce emissions, are valuable to thieves because they contain valuable metals such as platinum, rhodium and palladium. ICBC receives millions of dollars in claims for stolen converters every year.
On June 1, 2023, Mounties searched Singh’s house, which is co-owned by his spouse, as well as his business and a third Surrey address.
At the house, officers found 36 catalytic converters and $219,925 in cash. At the business, police seized 400 catalytic converters and other business documents, plus three laptops and other items.
“The money was bundled or packaged in a manner are not consistent with standard banking practices,” the director alleged. “All or some of the catalytic converters were obtained illegally.”
Singh was arrested the same day and he was charged earlier this year with possession of stolen property worth more than $5,000, and trafficking in stolen property. His next appearance in Surrey provincial court is scheduled for January.
The director wants the house, bought in 2021 for $2.3 million, the cash and the contents of four bank accounts forfeited to the B.C. government. The director alleges the cash came from illegal activity.
“The defendants use the real property, the bank accounts, the money, and the catalytic converters to facilitate unlawful activity, including trafficking property obtained by crime over $5000,” the court document said.
“Funds used to purchase catalytic converters, and the proceeds receive from the sale of catalytic converters, went into and out of the bank accounts. Funds from the bank accounts were used to acquire and maintain the real property and pay down the mortgage registered against it.”
The lawsuit also alleges Singh engaged in money laundering and failed to declare taxable income.
B.C. law requires dealers to report each transaction involving a catalytic converter, including the name and other information about the seller, to police on the same day the sale was made.
Reached at his business Tuesday, Singh told Postmedia that the money was earned legally from his scrap metal business. The reason he had so much cash in his house was to pay for his tow truck, he said.
As for the hundreds of converters police found, he said they came off the scrap cars he purchased and were not stolen.
He said he didn’t know about the civil forfeiture lawsuit filed against his house and the cash.
Meanwhile, his business is still open, though only for scrap car purchases, Singh said. He is no longer offering towing.
No statement of defence has been filed in the civil case and none of the allegations have been tested in court.