Confiscation of cash 16 years later

According to court documents, in December 2009 police conducted a search and discovered a large amount of cash buried in a plastic container beneath the garage floor. Marcel Breton was charged with possession of proceeds obtained through crime.

In 2014 a trial court found him guilty, but in 2018 the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial. The retrial focused on whether the searches themselves were lawful.

In 2022 the court excluded all seized evidence, ruling that police had violated the defendant’s Charter rights. The prosecution was left without evidence and withdrew the charges. Breton was acquitted.

However, the fate of the seized money remained unresolved. The Crown asked the court to forfeit the cash to the state, arguing that it was criminal proceeds. Breton insisted the funds should be returned.

In 2023 the trial judge ruled that more than $1.2 million dollars found in the garage should be confiscated. The judge noted that the packaging of the bills, the presence of drugs and drug paraphernalia nearby, and the absence of reported income for eight years pointed to a criminal origin of the funds. Meanwhile, $15,000 dollars found in the home ventilation system was ordered returned to Breton.

On November 17, 2025 the Court of Appeal upheld this decision. The panel emphasized that an acquittal does not prevent a court from examining the origin of property in a separate forfeiture proceeding, and noted that such hearings weigh not questions of liberty but the ownership of disputed assets.

Sixteen years after the discovery, the case has reached its conclusion: the money has been permanently forfeited to the state.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that about six kilograms of native gold worth around €600,000 were stolen from the Paris Natural History Museum during a nighttime break in.