Mortgaged to crime

OFF THE WIRE
Bank records support police seizure of Hells Angels’ clubhouse
By PAUL TURENNE, Winnipeg Sun
The Hells Angels’ Winnipeg clubhouse was a place that hosted barbecues and Ultimate Fighting Championship viewing parties, but was also allegedly a hub of criminal activity that was funded by drug money, according to court documents prepared for the home’s seizure last week.

Police biker experts filed hundreds of pages of information in support of last Thursday’s seizure of the Scotia Street clubhouse, including photos of the inside of the house, photocopies of bar tabs accumulated at the hangout’s in-house bar, a phone list of the gang’s members, and records related to the sale of Hells Angels clothing and support gear.

The documents even contain mortgage records for the house, which show the registered owner, Leonard Beauchemin of Keewatin, Ont. — the club’s “nominee” to hold title, according to police — took out a $146,000 mortgage on the property with CIBC a couple of years ago at a 5.9% interest rate.

But police allege in the documents that the $927 monthly mortgage payments weren’t coming out of Beauchemin’s pocket.

The payments were made from “profits from drug trafficking, drug taxes and the payment of dues by members of the Hells Angels and payment of dues and drug taxes by members of the Zig-Zag Crew or other associates,” the documents allege.

While police describe the house in the documents as a symbol of intimidation to other gangs, where criminal activity was planned and criminals used social occasions to network, the officers also provide a detailed description of what the house is like and what went on there.

For example, the house is described as containing a pool table, bar, video game area and even a stage complete with a stripper pole. There was also a sticker near the front door that read “No Rats, No Fat Chicks, No Guns.”

The house had a high-tech security and surveillance system, a display case for Hells Angels and support clothing that was for sale, photos of the gang’s members on the wall, and a “members only room” with a digital punch lock that only full-patch members of the gang were allowed to enter.

The documents state that the house played host to seemingly routine gatherings like barbecues and UFC fight nights, but police allege in one affadavit that “even though these events appear to be of a ‘social’ nature, significant amounts of criminal networking occurs.”

The documents note that Hells Angels member Danny Lawson may have been living at the clubhouse prior to its seizure last week, and that fellow member Shane Kirton also “maintained a regular presence there” prior to his arrest last month.

paul.turenne@sunmedia.ca