Value of BC Rail defendants' assets in question

On Tuesday Dave Basi and Bob Virk were sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest after admitting to passing on insider information to bidders in the 2003 sale of BC Rail, thusending a multimillion dollar trial.

Documents have revealed that in 2006 Dave Basi signed a deal with theattorney general's officein the form of a second mortgage on his home, to use it as collateral to cover his legal fees in the event he was found guilty of corruption.

But rather than try to recover some of the legal fees by forcing the sale of Basi's home, the attorney general's office decided to cover the legal costs as part of a deal in which the two men would plead guilty to four of the charges against them.

The attorney general's office told CBC News that the assessed value ofBasi's Victoria home is $518,000 and that hisequity in the propertyis a fraction of that andmuch less than the amount neededto go through the legal proceedings to try to recover it.

An estimateof all assetsheld by Virk and Basi totalled about $350,000, theB.C. attorney general's office told CBC Thursday, and media reports that Basi owns a second home are incorrect, CBC News has determined.

The widely quoted $6 millionlegal defence costis only part of theexpense of putting onthe BC Rail trial.The costs for courtrooms, judges, Crown prosecutors andother staff and expenses could addanother$2 millionto $3 million to the total bill, a spokesperson said.

NDP wants inquiry

New Democrat leader Carole James questions the decision not to go after Basi's and Virk's assets and is calling for an independent third party investigation into all aspects of the deal.

"New information that government held Dave Basis home as collateral puts the lie to Attorney General Mike de Jong's claims they were paying the defence fees because there was nothing left to collect," said James.

"It's yet another contradiction from the B.C. Liberals, who are facing growing questions about their motivation for making a $6 million pay-out in order to secure a plea deal in the B.C. Rail corruption scandal," said James.

Meanwhile Attorney General Mike de Jong says he was powerless to change the outcome of the plea agreement.

De Jong said he understands the public's frustration, but his deputy ministers made a decision independent from the political arm of government and he believes that's the way it should be.

The deputy ministers charged with reviewing the file decided it was better to forego money it would have a hard time collecting in exchange for the millions of dollars that would have been spent on a longer trial with an uncertain outcome, said de Jong.

Politicians not involved

On Wednesday afternoon David Loukidelis, B.C.'s deputy attorney general, released a statement "to clarify" the circumstances leading up to the decision to release Basi and Virk from repaying their legal costs.

"No one outside the Legal Services Branch, myself and the deputy minister of finance had any knowledge of this or involvement," he said.

"For clarity, neither the special prosecutor nor the attorney general had any knowledge of the matter or involvement in this."

Loukidelis said he and the deputy finance minister decided to release Basi and Virk from repayment and then informed the Attorney General on Oct. 8.

"A major consideration was the relatively small amounts that might be recovered from Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk compared to the millions of additional dollars it would cost the government to continue to fund defence, prosecution and court-related costs through to the completion of the trial, and to fund any appeals, with no guarantee of convictions," Loukidelis said in the statement.

Loukidelis said a letter was sent to counsel for Basi and Virk on Wednesday releasing them from a condition not to publicly discuss the financial matters of the deal.