$200K in cash found under retired construction worker's bed seized by authorities
An Ontario judge allowed authorities to seize about $200,000 found underneath a Mississauga man’s bed, saying even though it’s possible he distrusted banks after growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, the evidence in the case says it’s more likely the money came from an illegal gambling den.
Justice Dineen of the Ontario Superior Court said Dimitris Kellesis’ 92-year-old mother, Sotira, could keep $75,000, adding nothing tied her to any illegal activity during a multi-jurisdictional investigation touted at the time as a way to stop organized crime, but didn’t result in any convictions.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“It’s the Eastern European way. You hide cash under the bed,” Lusi Brace, Kellesis’ lawyer, told CTV News Toronto in an interview. “There’s no law that says how you can save your money.”
Kellesis, a retired construction worker, was among dozens charged in Project Hobart, a massive investigation that dismantled what police said at the time was an underground gambling ring that supplied $160 million to chapters of the Hells Angels, masquerading as a Mississauga storefront.
But the investigation’s size may have been its undoing. Prosecutors at Brampton’s courthouse were unprepared for the volume of evidence, and the criminal case was eventually tossed out due to delays.
Using Ontario’s civil forfeiture rules, the province’s attorney general applied to seize the cash and other valuables discovered during the probe.
Among the items the province applied to keep was cash found in the Kellesis home: $20,000 found in a fanny pack, $1,910 found in a pair of jeans, and $250,000 found in a gift bag under a bed.
Surveillance officers saw Dimitris Kellesis attending the alleged gambling den on an almost daily basis. According to the judgement, he was seen using a money counter, locking doors, and using a tablet police believed was a ledger.
He argued at the hearing that he attended that storefront occasionally just to socialize and play an online game, “Clash of Clans,” on his tablet.
Dineen didn’t buy that argument, saying it was simply obvious that illegal gambling was going on — and that cash was likely proceeds of the gambling den.
“It is not credible that he spent many hours virtually every day at this ‘café’ as a mere social visitor who socialized or sat by himself playing a mobile video game and was entirely unaware that any gambling was taking place. This location was clearly a gambling hall with obvious gambling paraphernalia and Mr. Kellesis’s claim brings to mind Captain Renault in Casablanca,” the judge wrote.
But he was sympathetic to the arguments that when the family came to Canada from Czechoslovakia as a child, the family’s assets were seized by the then-communist government, leaving them suspicious of institutions.
Dmitri Kellesis' seized cash is seen in this image.
The judge accepted evidence that $75,000 of that cash could be traced to savings of his mother and sister.
“I accept on a balance of probabilities that $75,000 of the amount seized was legitimate savings of Ms. Kellesis with no link to illegal activity and I would order that amount returned to her,” he wrote.
Correction
A previous version of this story misspelled Kellesis' first name. The correct spelling is Dimitris.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.