B.C. high court orders three Hells Angels clubhouses forfeited to the province

British Columbia's Appeal Court has overturned a lower-court ruling and ordered the Hells Angels motorcycle club to surrender three properties under the province's Civil Forfeiture Act.

The unanimous decision by a three-member panel issued Wednesday, says a B.C. Supreme Court justice was wrong to find "no evidence" that the Hells Angels' clubhouses in Nanaimo, Kelowna and Vancouver were used for the planning or commission of criminal activity.

She finds the trial judge did not account for evidence showing Hells Angels members had "committed serious crimes" in the past or that the clubhouses "provided a safe space" to plan or commit crimes, and rules the inference is "inescapable" that the properties would be used the same way in future.

The decision orders Hells Angels members with an interest in the three clubhouses to pay the costs of the appeal and requires the titles of the properties to be transferred to the province, with funds from any sales paid to the civil forfeiture account.

The B.C. Assessment website shows a total combined value of just over $3 million for the properties.

Greg DelBigio, the lawyer who represented those associated with the Vancouver and Kelowna clubhouses, told The Canadian Press he had no comment on the Court of Appeal ruling or on any possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.