Island developer fined $200K for Basi bribe

A Vancouver Island development corporation has been fined $200,000 for agreeing to pay former B.C. ministerial aid DavidBasi$50,000 to help get some land out of the ALR, on Friday in B.C. Supreme Court.

Shambrook Hills Development Corp., also known as Sunriver Estates, pled guilty after Basi admitted taking the bribe, when he pled guilty earlier this week at the BC Rail corruption trial on Monday.

"This was an act of sheer folly on the part of this company," defence lawyer Richard Peck told B.C. Supreme Court, noting that by the time the company paid Basi the bribe in August 2003, the Agricultural Land Commission had already released the land for development.

"This property was coming out of the ALR in any event," he said. "This was hard-scrabble land, and so why they turned to Basi to assist in this matter is beyond understanding. It's just sheer folly."

'Mr. Basi stated he needed the money at that time to help his mother purchase a house.' Crown lawyer Janet Winteringham

Charges against Shambrook officials James Duncan and Anthony Young were stayed after the company pled guilty.

As an "act of atonement and redemption" in May 2010, Shambrook donated $91,500 to an organic farm during a fundraising drive to save it from development, Peck said. The farm is now owned by The Land Conservancy.

Basi asked for $50,000

Crown lawyer Janet Winteringham said the land that Shambrook wanted for a 700-home development in Sooke, B.C., was unofficially excluded from the reserve in August 2002 before a certificate for exclusion was issued in June 2003.

Winteringham said that in September 2001, Shambrook submitted an application to the Agricultural Land Commission to have the land excluded from the reserve.

But the application was delayed after the Liberal government came to power in May 2001 and began a core review of services that included the Agricultural Land Commission.

Winteringham said a consultant introduced Basi to Shambrook officials, who asked Basi about the status of their application.

She said Basi, who had no involvement with the commission as a ministerial aide in the Finance Ministry, made inquiries and in August 2003, asked for $50,000.

"Mr. Basi stated he needed the money at that time to help his mother purchase a house."

Winteringham said that a month earlier, Basi had an acquaintance set up a business and a chequing account into which the cheque made out to Basi's wife was deposited, before the money was transferred to him.

Winteringham would not name the consultant or Basi's acquaintance, adding Shambrook officials didn't know the person.

Linked to BC Rail corruption trial

Shambrook officials were ready to plead guilty a year ago but were waiting for Basi's lengthy court case involving the $1-billion sale of BC Rail to conclude, said Winteringham.

That happened suddenly on Monday, when Basi pleaded guilty to breach of trust and accepting rewards or benefits in exchange for leaking confidential information about the sale.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of offering a benefit by attempting to help Shambrook with their Agricultural Land Commission application.

Bobby Virk, another former ministerial aide, also pleaded guilty Monday alongside Basi in connection with the November 2003 sale of BC Rail after the two admitted they got cash and tickets and flights to a NFL football game in exchange for leaking confidential documents.

Their drawn-out political corruption trial stemmed from a December 2003 raid on the legislature offices of Basi and Virk.

As part of their plea bargain, Basi and Virk signed non-disclosure agreements barring them from speaking about their time in government, but the government released them from those agreements on Wednesday.

Opposition NDP Leader Carole James has called on the province to reveal all details of the arrangement, saying taxpayer money was used to keep the pair quiet.

The government revealed after the guilty pleas that it paid $6 million for Basi and Virk's legal fees.