"Secret" Land Deal In Whalley Splits Filipinos Other Surrey Things
Greg Carr
Wed, March 12 2008
The community centre was supposed to be the pride and joy of B.C.'s
Filipinos.
A place where Filipino-Canadians could congregate, commune and
celebrate.
But the land on which the dream was supposed to be built on is now at
the centre of a raging controversy that is tearing the community
apart.
Accusations of secret deals and questionable connections, conflicting
visions and personality clashes have landed the Filipino dream in a
B.C. Supreme Court.
While the battle rages, the land in question - a prime 1.7 acre
parcel of development property located just two blocks from Surrey's
Gateway SkyTrain station – has been sold to four Indo-Canadian
brothers who plan to cash in on the real estate boom.
One faction claims that the property – readily subdividable into 20
residential building lots – was sold off at a fraction of its true
value.
It claims that Marcelino “Mars” dela Cruz, the controversial president
of the Philippine Community Centre Society (PCCS), exceeded his
authority in orchestrating the “secret” sale, and has applied to the
B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to undo the 2007 election that brought
dela Cruz to power.
If sucessful, (successful is how it should be spelt-Greg) this group
led by Bob De Guzman could undo the deal, which is supposed to close
on August 29.
For his part, dela Cruz maintains that the deal was the best thing for
the society.
He described the sale – announced in a Philippine Community Centre
Society Dec. 2007 newsletter - as “a windfall” for the PCSS.
The former newspaperman and restauranteur says the $2,025,000 deal for
the 1.7-acre property has made the society the “richest Filipino
Canadian association in British Columbia, if not in entire Canada.”
“We were obligated to sell the property for this price which we
believe was a very good price instead of losing everything to the
local government of Surrey through an auction for non-payment of
property taxes.”
The PCCS was founded in 1992 by Filipino travel agent Oscar Tiu with
the primary mandate of building a community centre to serve the needs
of Filipinos in Surrey – a multi-purpose sports and cultural centre
managed by Filipinos but available to all the communities.
The land was originally leased to the Society from the City of Surrey,
and was later purchased by PCCS for $550,000.
But unpaid taxes on the land accumulated and the city was threatening
to auction of the land.
This prompted a series of actions;
Three sisters and one of their friends – Trinidad “Treenee Lopez,
Terry Drexler y Lopez, Teodora Lopez and Belen Lumapas - came forward
to pay the back taxes amounting to about $58,000;
Accountants then told the PCCS that their original investment of
$200,000 for the land (the balance was financed) had grown by 260
percent and the land was now worth more than $2 million.
Dela Cruz told The Asian Pacific Post the property was in danger of
being put on the auction block this April for outstanding property
taxes.
His rival De Guzman, who leads the PCCS breakaway group calling itself
Caring Team, maintain that it was dela Cruz' stewardship of the
society that landed it in hotwater with the municipal taxman in the
first place.
The sale, De Guzman, said is “illegal” because there was no “community
consultation” done among its general membership prior to the deal with
the Indo-Canadian group of developer brothers.
“It is but right that the Filipino community be consulted (first)
before any sale was made,” De Guzman told the Asian Pacific Post. "The
sale was kept secret from all of us.”
At the height of its popularity, the PCCS boasted more than 3,000
active members. Today, says De Guzman, the Society limps along with
just 300 members.
De Guzman, a retired engineer who completed his Masters in Business
Administration at the Simon Fraser University, says that the
membership roster shrunk because “they have lost the trust and
confidence in the leadership of PCCS headed by dela Cruz.”
As the land controversy heats up, the De Guzman faction was in B.C.
Supreme Court this week to challenge the results of the PCCS election
which was held last September.
"The Caring Team is still fighting to have the membership applications
reviewed by the courts,” De Guzman told the Asian Pacific Post.
“Should the Court nullify the September 9, 2007 elections a new
election for the PCCS will be done soon.”
If that happens, the dela Cruz orchestrated land deal will be
scuttled.
A hearing on the elections results is expected to be held in May.
Documents obtained by the Asian Pacific Post show that a Contract of
Purchase and Sale was executed for the Grovesnor Road property on
October 1, 2007. The buyers are Dhesa Group Holdings Ltd. and
three-numbered companies, all of Surrey, B.C.
A non-refundable deposit of $100,000 was made Oct. 17, 2007, with an
additional final deposit of $200,000 on March 5. The sale is to be
completed on August 29, 2008.
While dela Cruz says the deal is a “windfall” for the Filipino
community, realestate experts suggest the deal was a fire sale in the
context of Metro Vancouver's booming property market.
Property developers contacted by the Asian Pacific Post doubted that
the society could find another site with same land area and available
public facilities for only $2 million. The current site is a corner
lot which could be subdivided and converted into no less than 20
medium-sized lots with 30-foot frontages.
Some local developers said the property is “easily” worth in excess of
$5 million.
“Selling the land is a big loss for the PCCS. There is no way the
Society can find comparable land with the net proceeds of the sale to
build a new one,” said De Guzman.
For his part dela Cruz has dismissed the allegations by his rivals
blaming “bad politics” and “personal vendettas”
He blamed “misguided former directors of the society”and the “libelous
press” - naming four Filipino community publications – for trying to
destroy the reputation of PCCS and stunting its ability to raise
funds.
Dela Cruz said his rivals have already lost a series of court cases
against him and the PCCS.
The PCCS, he said, was now accepting suggestions from its members for
a new site to build the community centre, this time complete with a
banquet hall and basketball court.
“The PCCS is now facing a very bright future...More Filipinos are now
attending PCCS events and the lost glory of the Filipino society will
be finally redeemed.”
“I'm confident by the end of 2008 we will have a new centre.”
http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/c1ee8c4418a404dc0118a4e0a0030056.do.html
http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/ff8080810f066af6010f079012a20039.do.html
has more pics.
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The land is just one block south of a series of highrise developments
in progress and others planned. It is also a block south from a
whorehouse where a hooker was found dead in a parking lot. The
building used to attract miscreants but the problem has been dealt
with. The building is dilapidated and tagged. From time to time there
has been repair work started on the building but never completed.
Cockfighting, organized crime, being killed by Indos and other
gangbangers, this bad situation, this community seems to have more
than its share of problems. Fortunately many of their women are the
most beautiful in the Lower Mainland. LBMM Little Brown Marriage
Machines. I know a guy who married two of them through mail order and
they both divorced him after two yrs. Cleaned him out financially.
They are not as dumb as you think they are you stupid racists trying
to be the great white bwana.
http://www.pntvancouver.com/pnt/National/Headlines/tabid/61/Default.aspx
has more info about the dispute.
Meanwhile Mayor Watts has announced plans to move the city hall to
Whalley. This move was created by enthusiasm by local business honchos
and Trade Of Commerce types and developers, in short the ppl who
supported the man she replaced as Mayor. I have never heard anyone say
the current city hall had any problems and while they talk about the
easy Skytrain access to it and how it will help revitalize Whalley the
fact is it will make City Hall even harder to get to from Cloverdale
and South Surrey and the ppl who live near the current location. The
plan also calls for the North Surrey Community Centre to be moved. At
present this excellent facility provides some much needed stability to
the area. Without this anchor I would predict that the current drug
dealing and yahooness at the transit stop there will get worse. What
Whalley needs is a new library at least as good as the one in
Guildford or why not as good as the one in Downtown Vancouver? Surrey
is developing at a record rate and the facilities in Whalley haven't
kept pace.
Meanwhile HArk HAns was found shot to death at Eaglequest Coyote Creek
golf course yesterday. Think this might have an HA angle? I recall
someone in the Tri-Cities area a few yrs ago being found dead and he
had one of those names that screamed, HA. Don't think it was solved.
Meanwhile the worst homicide in Surrey history is still unsolved. Some
media reported that is was revenge for the death at a Whalley
McDonald's of biker meth dealer Dylan Becker who was working for a
local motorcycle gang. Anyone know any active crime motorcycle clubs
besides HAMC?
Meanwhile the Vancouver Sun on Page 5 today lists the death of Earl
Seymour in the DTES last month as gang-style. Interesting because at
the time of his death they listed it as a love triangle. Because of
the rising HA body count and perhaps worried their press room or
printing presses will get blown up they neglected to mention he was a
well known HA associate.
N.S.-born drug baron shot dead in Vancouver
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1038729.html
(Comments In Brackets My Own)
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
The Nova Scotia native who was once the kingpin of a Vancouver crack
cocaine ring has been murdered.
Earl Stephen Seymour was shot dead in his minivan Friday night in
downtown Vancouver. The 40-year-old known Hells Angels associate had
been living in the city for several years, but before that he resided
in Bible Hill. He was originally from Glace Bay.
Mr. Seymour had an extensive criminal history that included ordering
the firebombing of the home of a Cape Breton police officer’s
grandmother.
Investigators believe Mr. Seymour’s murder was a targeted shooting.
"A woman was holding the body and crying and screaming, ‘No, this
can’t be happening,’ " photographer Lilith Yakub, who arrived at the
scene minutes after the shooting, told the Vancouver Sun.
For five years starting in the late 1990s, Mr. Seymour ran a gang that
sold crack on Vancouver’s east side. The operation intimidated rivals
with gunfire and beatings. It made $10,000 to $20,000 a day.
Drugs were also bused to dealers in Cape Breton.
In September 2001, Mr. Seymour pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking
and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
A B.C. judge imposed a sentence of six years and four months for
cocaine trafficking. The judge also handed Mr. Seymour a concurrent
one-year term for the marijuana charge.
His gang’s main source of income was about $300,000 a month from crack
cocaine.
"This drug trafficking operation was like a business, with Mr. Seymour
being one of the principal movers behind the operation," the
prosecutor told the court.
The judge also sentenced Mr. Seymour, then 34, to a concurrent
three-year term for firebombing the home of the 90-year-old
grandmother of a Cape Breton Regional Police officer on May 21, 2000.
According to a statement of facts filed in the case, Mr. Seymour was
angry after police raided his Nova Scotia home on May 18, 2000, with
guns drawn. The officers forced some of his family members to lie on
the floor.
In retaliation, Mr. Seymour directed two men to lob two Molotov
cocktails through the window of the Glace Bay home of Audrey and
Norris Dowe. One of the bottles ignited and Mr. Dowe burned his feet
trying to put out the fire. Mrs. Dowe — the grandmother of Const.
Kevin Dowe, an undercover drug officer who was involved in the search
of the Seymour residence — was sleeping in the next room, which also
contained an oxygen tank.
As part of a plea agreement, Mr. Seymour agreed to forfeit to the
Crown $740,000 worth of assets purchased with the proceeds of crime,
including the family home at 88 Hidden Valley Dr. in Colchester
County, two 1999 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a 1999 Corvette, a 1997
all-terrain vehicle, two new snowmobiles, a new travel trailer and
$269,875 in Canadian cash seized by police.
At his trial, Mr. Seymour’s lawyer, Glen Orris, reportedly told the
court his client was one of 11 children who grew up in a Nova Scotia
home where the father abandoned them when Mr. Seymour was five.
His mother drank heavily, forcing the older sisters to raise the
younger siblings, the lawyer added.
Mr. Seymour dropped out of school at 15, worked odd jobs, began
drinking, then took to selling drugs to supplement his income.
The defence lawyer added that Mr. Seymour, who, when he was sentenced,
had four children under the age of six with his common-law wife, felt
shame for causing his family a similar fate as his own fatherless
childhood. He planned to get an honest job when he got out of prison,
Mr. Orris said at the sentencing hearing.
The Vancouver crack cocaine operation was run by Mr. Seymour, his
brother Cliff Seymour and two cousins, Ken and Don Seymour. All of the
men came from Nova Scotia.
On Dec. 30, 2005, a gunman shot two of Mr. Seymour’s cousins in a
rundown Glace Bay neighbourhood known as the Hub.
Kenneth Bradley Seymour, 39, died hours later in hospital.
His brother, Donald Wilfred Seymour, 38, was seriously injured; his
liver and other organs were damaged.
They had both done six years behind bars for being part of the West
Coast cocaine operation.
They were shot over a drug debt by a fellow associate of the Hells
Angels.
Nelson MacPhee of Dominion pleaded guilty to manslaughter and
aggravated assault. Last April, a judge sentenced him to 15 years in
prison.
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Police discovered the crack ring while investigating the beating death
of Michael Bath, 29, whose body was found in 1999 near Squamish.
Kenneth and Donald Seymour were charged with Bath's first-degree
murder in April 2000, but the charges were stayed.
Earl Seymour was shot Friday around 6:30 p.m. not far from Victory
Square, where his family allegedly dealt cocaine.
n(sic) A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 6300-block Crown
Street Saturday night.
The shooting took place outside a mixed martial-arts event at the
Musqueam Gymnasium, where the victim was a competitor.
A Vancouver police spokesman said the man was fired on by a group of
men who appeared not to have any association with the event.
They fled in a vehicle and remain at large.
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=9ab2cabf-30d1-4141-8d90-310fc29d339a&k=45531
http://www.reality-check.ca/archive/index.php/t-110225.html shows the
Seymour brothers to be HA associates. Rather violent company. This
gets even more bizarre:
Glace Bay man to enter pleas next month ?
Cousin killed in targeted hit in Vancouver, Friday
STEVE MACINNIS
The Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — A 39-year-old Glace Bay man, whose cousin was murdered on the
weekend in Vancouver in a targeted hit, is scheduled back in
provincial court March 3 to enter pleas on drug and tobacco charges.
Donald Wilfred Seymour of East Street, is charged with possession of
cocaine for the purpose of trafficking; possession of marijuana;
possession of illegally manufactured cigarettes and possession of
cigarettes without the proper excise markings.
Seymour continues to use a cane to assist with his mobility after he
was shot in 2005 inside his home. His brother, Kenneth, died in the
same shooting incident. Another man, Nelson MacPhee, was given a
17-year-sentence for the murder.
Last Friday, Seymour’s cousin, Earl Stephen Seymour, was gunned down
in Vancouver in what police described as a target killing. Stephen
Seymour had been convicted in 2000 for his role in the fire bombing of
a home belonging to the 90-year-old grandmother of a Cape Breton
Regional Police officer.
The shooting of Earl Stephen Seymour occurred in an area of Vancouver
not far from where he and his gang once ran a highly profitable crack
cocaine trafficking ring.
Stephen Seymour received a sentence of six years in 2001 after
pleading guilty to trafficking in cocaine and possession of marijuana
for the purpose of trafficking.
He also forfeited some $740,000 worth of assets deemed by police to
have been purchased with the profits of his illegal activity.
Donald Seymour remains free on conditions after posting a $3,500
surety and agreeing to a host of conditions including he not associate
with anyone with a criminal record and that he abide by a curfew.
19/02/08
http://www.capebretonpost.com/index.cfm?sid=109349&sc=145
All the Seymours and McPhee are HA.
Man charged in shooting death
Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
VANCOUVER - Matthew Ryan Wall, 24, has been charged with the
first-degree murder of drug dealer Earl Stephen Seymour, 40, who was
gunned down as he sat in his minivan last Friday evening in the 300
block of Carrall Street in downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver police detectives said they arrested Wall in a downtown
rooming house hours after the shooting.
Police said Wall was known to them as a street-level drug dealer. His
shooting was Vancouver's sixth homicide of the year.
(You call this reporting? Wall wasn’t the one shot it was Seymour)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a...
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Various news orgs have stated the Seymour’s were HA associates and
there is a gang war going on. So why is no local news outlet
mentioning that? Are they that afraid of HAMC that they can’t cover a
routine hit in a gang war? One local TV station speculated it was a
love triangle gone bad but didn’t mention the extensive criminal
history of the victim or his documented ties to HAMC. The media in
Vancouver should do a better job of crime coverage especially during a
gang war.
HA
is involved with
extortion, homicide, kidnapping, prostitution, meth and cocaine
dealing, rape, armed robbery and motorcycle theft and child
pornography
as well as phony currency and witness intimidation and obstruction of
justice. They have been known to bribe and scare law enforcement
officers and judges into doing their bidding. These ppl must be
rooted
out of the Cdn justice system. Two judges have actually done their
job
and declared HAMC a criminal org and the Victoria Times-Colonist is
calling for it to be banned as a terrorist org.
"The Hells Angels should be treated as a domestic terror organization.
We should encourage those who make and enforce our laws in their
efforts to eradicate them."
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=517a2096-953a-4ea3-9507-ee3c5e8d39e2
The White Rock chapter Sgt.Of Arms, Villy Roy Lynnerup, recently was
arrested for trying to board an airplane at YVR
with a loaded firearm. Was probably going to crash the plane into the
Downtown courthouse or hold the passengers hostage in exchange for
the
release of Moms Boucher and all imprisoned full patch members. All
the
Hell's Angels, their supporters, associates etc. should be imprisoned
for twenty years
their children put in foster care and their assets seized.
Ppl are trying to get HAMC listed as a terrorist org. If you support
this
then write letters to editors of local newspapers and your local MP.
As well John Les the solicitor-general of BC has advocated banning
the wearing of gang colours such as biker patches in bars. Since HA
is
known to frequent Brandi’s and the Cecil and has links to
various bars in BC that would be an improvement. The gang has a
history of intimidating
bartenders, infiltrating unions involved in the bar industry, beating
and killing strippers and beating customers to death at random for no
reason. Contact your MLA as well as the local media and tell them you
want this implemented sooner rather than later.
VPD is appealing again for info about the homicide of Maria Yvette
Monzon who was shot dead on the westside of Vancouver. She was killed
by HA but the police have never stated that. There is a reward.
Colleen Reiter (Ryder?) of Surrey was killed by HAMC but the RCMP
refuse to confirm this.
The house between 13710 and 13734 108 Ave in Surrey (across from Hindi
movie hut) is a HA house and they still have no house numbers which is
a violation of the local by-laws. Flamand's is the name on a small
wooden sign by the door. Just because they are in a gang that is
killing ppl doesn't mean they are exempt from the laws of Surrey.
Building a new city hall and development is important work but so is
enforcing the laws that are in place. Every other home on the st is
following the law so why are these ppl exempt? If the City is
terrified of HA then just admit it. The GRC are asking for a witness
to come forward and be a hero about the killing of six ppl in Whalley
but they can't even get a bunch of HA gangbangers to put the proper
house address on their domicile. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
This is a prime example of the broken windows theory.
http://www.surrey.ca/_Utility/contact.asp has the contact info for
Surrey council.
We are awaiting the return of our JHVH in the flesh or his Son. His Son Yu'shua died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected and walked the earth for awhile then ascended unto Heaven. We await the Third Coming not the Second.
Scottish Quaker Robert Barclay-"The weighty Truths of God were neglected, and, as it were, went into Desuetude. ...
Who will be the last Coalition soldier to be maimed in Iraq?
Canadian troops out of Afghanistan and into Darfur.http://www.amnesty.ca/instantkarma/petition.php
Good luck to anyone trying to learn Hebrew. I am looking for a Hebrew-Gregorian calendar in both Hebrew and English lettering.
I am looking for my missing automobile. Left in the care of Low's Tire (Firestone) on King George Hwy which has since gone out of business. A man who claimed to be a tow truck driver named Jerry (sounded Black) called me and said he had it
but when I called him back he denied it. JVD-968 "89 Plymouth Reliant white with red interior. Devellis in lettering on the rear trunk. Contact me by email or the GRC if you are one of those ppl.
Happy Purim this 14th of Adar. The Disciples and Yu'shua never celebrated Eostar and neither should you.