There will be no public inquiry or a third-party investigation into a B.C. government decision to pay the $6 million legal defence costs in a corruption trial involving the $1 billion sale of B.C. Rail to CN.
B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong said Thursday the case is closed, characterizing efforts by the NDP to have the B.C. Liberal government scrutinize a deal that saw former political aids David Basi and Bobby Virk plead guilty to lesser corruption charges, and have their defence costs paid, as an effort to manufacture a story that does not exist. "These are people that can't get beyond trying to manufacture a story for political reasons," de Jong told The Citizen.
On Monday, Basi and Virk pled guilty to lesser charges in the trial which had been scheduled to run until the spring of next year. Their guilty plea - and the revelation that the B.C. government was covering their legal costs - came just before former-finance minister Gary Collins was slated to testify.
Basi and Virk pleaded guilty to four counts linked to breach of trust and accepting rewards or benefits. Charges have been stayed against Basi's cousin, Aneal Basi, who was accused of money laundering.
Basi and Virk were accused of taking bribes - cash, meals, and NFL tickets - in exchange for leaking confidential material about the sale to another B.C. Rail bidder, OmniTrax.
De Jong outlined that the decision to strike the deal was made independently by special Crown prosecutor Bill Beradino. The decision on paying the defence costs was made by the top civil servants in the Attorney General and Finance minister's office, although de Jong said he was told of the decision and agreed with the conclusion.
It's been revealed that one of the former aids, Basi, owns real estate, but de Jong said a major consideration of the decision to not recover defence costs was the relatively small amounts that might be recovered.
While the convicted signed a non-disclosure agreement surrounding the defence cost payment, there was never anything prohibiting them from talking about the case, added de Jong.
The B.C. Liberal government has been hammered by the New Democrats over the decision that ended the corruption trial linked to the sale of B.C. Rail.
The sale of the Crown railway - which broke a 2001-election promise of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell not to sell or privatize the railway - was a contentious issue in Prince George and north-central B.C.
On Thursday, NDP leader Carole James called for an independent, third-party investigation into all aspects of the B.C. Liberal government's decision to pay $6 million in legal fees for the convicted former political aides David Basi and Bobby Virk following the revelation that the government held security agreements against their personal property as collateral in the event they were found guilty of corruption.
"New information that government held Dave Basi's 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."
The NDP said records show the B.C. government holds security agreements against Basi and Virk's personal property, including against Basi's home which is valued at $857,000.
Political scientist Norman Ruff said that, while the next election is still in the distant future, if the B.C. Liberal government was hoping that the end of the trial would put an end to the B.C. Rail corruption controversy, they were clearly mistaken.
