An indictment filed at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada has charged three former provincial government officials of Indian origin on multiple counts of corruption.
The indictment, which could hit the ruling Liberal Party hard, charged Singh (Dave) Basi and Bobby Singh Virk on 10 counts of accepting bribes, committing fraud and laundering money.
Aneal Basi, a former national field hockey player, was indicted on two counts of laundering money.
In the indictment, which came after a lengthy media campaign, Dave Basi and Virk were accused of disclosing "confidential government information" to third parties. Both the accused were important backroom workers of the federal and British Columbian Liberals.
Initially, police were involved in a drug trafficking case, which led to a breach of trust investigation and culminated in a raid on legislative offices, December 28, 2003.
The crimes allegedly occurred when OmniTRAX Inc tried to obtain operating rights to British Columbia Rail (BC Rail).
Brothers-in-law, Dave Basi and Virk, have also been accused of defrauding CNR, CPR and CIBC World Markets Inc as well as the provincial government of more than $5,000 "by recklessly putting at risk the bidding process for the Freight Division of BC Rail."
When the raids occurred Dave Basi was an assistant to Gary Collins, then finance minister. Collins recently resigned from the post.
{{/usCountry}}When the raids occurred Dave Basi was an assistant to Gary Collins, then finance minister. Collins recently resigned from the post.
{{/usCountry}}Virk was transport minister Judith Reid's aide. Reid, who oversaw the sale of BC Rail, was pushed to the Liberal backbench shortly after the police raids.
At the time, Aneal Basi, Dave's cousin, was an information officer at the transport ministry.
CN Rail outbid US rival OmniTRAX, paying the British Columbian government $1 billion for BC Rail. The government has maintained that the deal with CN Rail was clean despite continuing police investigations and previous complaints from failed bidders.
The police investigation came to light in December 2003 when police carted off dozens of boxes from the legislature after raiding the offices of Dave Basi and Virk.
The accused did not enter any pleas when they appeared before Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm. Their next appearance is scheduled for March 11.
Dave Basi also faces separate drug trafficking and marijuana production charges after police searched a rental home he owned near Victoria. He is scheduled to appear in a provincial court in Victoria March 3.