MC partially blamed for skyrocketing real estate

Ontario, Canada (March 22, 2019) BTN —  A new report by an international anti-corruption organization is taking aim at Canadian real estate, showing the ways that illegitimate funds can and are entering the economy, and driving home prices up in cities across the country, including Toronto.

“Domestic criminals have known for decades that Canada is ‘la la land’ for financial crime, but word has spread internationally too,” says the publication from Transparency International Canada (TIC). “Canadian real estate has attracted the attention and money of corrupt government officials and organized crime syndicates from across the globe.”

According to the watchdog, they began focusing on Canadian real estate markets in 2016 after it Canada was revealed to be an alleged haven money laundering in the “Panama Papers,” a trove of confidential financial documents leaked to the press in 2015.

Investing and hiding money in Canada’s real estate market, according to the report, is called “snow washing.”

The real problem, says TIC, is that of transparency, or rather opacity — so much so it’s actually the name of the report. Ontario’s current laws allow private corporations to purchase property without revealing the names of its directors, as well as often times, the source of the money.

The report’s “central case study” involved an analysis of 1.4 million GTA home sales and 1.3 million mortgages, dating back to 2008. In doing so they “identified billions of dollars in property acquired by anonymous owners with money of unknown origin.”

Much of the report deals in the abstract. Outlining the various loopholes in policy that could allow for criminal elements to take advantage of Ontario and Canada’s laws around purchasing real estate. It does not, however, hold back in citing examples of those who have been caught in the act using a corporate cover for their own dirty money.

According to the report, CLJ Everest Ltd is an Ontario company that was used to acquire a sprawling rural estate in Burlington for “disgraced fund manager and alleged fraudster” Clayton Smith, who used it to misappropriate at least $5 million in investor funds for personal use.

Omid Mashinchi, a former realtor and convicted money launderer in the US, used Mashinchi Investments Ltd, a BC-registered company, to acquire residential properties in Vancouver and Toronto, some of which were then leased to criminal associates, according to the report.

 Outlaws Motorcycle Club Property 

Another example includes an Etobicoke residential property, bought by 953667 Ontario Ltd. that would go onto serve as the Toronto clubhouse of the Outlaws motorcycle club. The report says, “court documents show that the club held several residential properties through numbered Ontario companies, which it used to further its criminal operations.”

Obscured corporate buyers, both legitimate and otherwise, have acquired $28.4 billion in GTA housing since 2008. “The vast majority of those companies are privately owned, with no information on their beneficial owners,” says the TIC.

These companies are also increasingly relying on cash purchases, the rate of which has been rising steadily over the past 10 years.

The report says cash transactions accounted for nearly half of corporate purchases in 2018. In fact, in the GTA alone $9.8 billion in housing was acquired by companies using cash purchases. TIC says much of these were able to bypass safeguards that track information on the source of the funds and its owners.

SOURCE:  Daily Hive

Hells Angels member on trial for attempted murder

Milliken, Colorado (March 22, 2019) BTN —  The attorney for a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club argued on Thursday his client did not intend to kill a Milliken police officer when he fired on her during a high-speed chase in the summer of 2017.

Colorado Public Defender Brian Connors represents John Lockhart, 38, of Eaton, who is accused of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, among others. The charges stem from separate shootings during the early morning hours of June 11, 2017, in Greeley and Milliken.

On Thursday, a Weld County jury heard closing arguments in Lockhart’s case, during which Connors argued for a conviction on a lesser charge of attempted manslaughter, saying it was impossible for Lockhart to shoot to kill Milliken officer Katherine Lines in the midst of a high-speed chase.

Lines encountered Lockhart and his passenger, Amber Eaton, about 1:30 a.m. June 11, 2017, as they sped into Milliken on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. When Lines attempted to pull Lockhart over, he accelerated to speeds exceeding 100 mph and fired three shots at her cruiser. One of those bullets entered the cruiser near the driver’s side headlight. Lines was uninjured.

“Mr. Lockhart was controlling the bike with one hand, shooting with his left hand around a passenger, while also going over 100 mph,” Connors said. “What kind of aim, what kind of accuracy, what kind of intent can you have?

“There is plenty of evidence Mr. Lockhart fired a gun that night, but no evidence he intended to kill officer Lines.”

Connors explained to the jury the difference between an attempted first-degree murder conviction and an attempted manslaughter one comes down to whether or not Lockhart acted with intent or acted recklessly when he squeezed off three rounds in Lions’ direction. “Mr. Lockhart’s actions in Milliken are the very portrait of what it means to act recklessly,” Connors said. “The only way he could have acted more recklessly is if he was blindfolded.”

Weld Chief Deputy District Attorney Tony Perea painted a simpler picture of the events during his closing argument, saying Lockhart could only have had one intention in mind when he pointed a gun at another person and pulled the trigger. In officer Lines’ case, Perea cited a couple pieces of damning evidence against Lockhart that was brought up at trial.

The first was a portion of Lockhart’s taped interview with police following his arrest in June 2017. During the interview, Lockhart tells a Greeley police investigator he believes driving is a right, not a privilege, and that he doesn’t believe in pulling over for anyone.

The second piece of evidence came from a recorded telephone conversation to a friend Lockhart made from the Weld County Jail about a month after his arrest. “I did shoot at that (expletive),” Lockhart says in a snippet of the conversation played during Thursday’s hearing. “Her dash cam is gonna show that she tried to hit me, twice.”

Perea noted Lockhart made the decision to not only run from Lions after she activated her emergency lights, but to also shoot at her during the chase. “He (Connors) wants to argue that shooting at a police officer is reckless,” Perea said. “Does, ‘I did shoot at that (expletive)’ sound reckless? Shooting three times at a police officer is not the definition of reckless.”

Prior to the incident in Milliken, Lockhart was involved in a shooting with Faustino Garcia while driving on 8th Avenue through Greeley. That shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. June 11, 2017, about an hour before Lockhart’s chase with Milliken police.

Lockhart is accused of firing seven times at Garcia, who was driving a Ford SUV. Garcia admitted at trial he had been drinking at the White Horse Bar in Garden City and that the shooting was the result of a road rage incident.

The jury began its deliberations shortly after 10 a.m. A verdict has not yet been announced.

SOURCE: GreeleyTribune

Thousands attend funeral for Taco Bowman

Dayton, Ohio, USA (March 17, 2019) BTN — Former Outlaws Motorcycle Club leader Harry ‘Taco’ Bowman’s was laid to rest at Bear Creek Cemetery Saturday. About a thousand members of the club came into town to honor their one-time leader. The ceremonies started at the Montgomery County Fair Grounds with a 24 hour viewing on Friday followed by a funeral service and burial Saturday morning. “There were thousands of people here today. We had a thousand on motorcycles, we had cars everywhere,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck.

The ride from the Fair Grounds to the cemetery proved to be a difficult task for law enforcement. Streck said deputies from his office, Trotwood Police officers, and troopers from Ohio State Highway Patrol made it as smooth as they could.

Related | Harry "Taco" Bowman funeral set for fairgrounds
Related | Outlaws MC: Harry "Taco" Bowman dead at 69

He apologized for the inconvenience it posed to other drivers, though. “At one point west third street from the 49 connector was at a standstill because there were so many vehicles trying to turn onto union to get to the cemetery,” he said. Bowman was the club’s international president in the 1990’s and died in federal prison from cancer.

He at one point was on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list. According to FBI reports, Bowman was convicted on multiple murder charges, including ones stemming from contracted bombings on rival clubs.

The Outlaws are a 1-percenter motorcycle club. That means they separate themselves from the American Motorcyclist Association's statement that 99-percent of all motorcyclists are law abiding. Despite the club’s reputation, Funeral Director Kevin Rogers said they were respectable. “We've actually done about four other Outlaw funerals,” Rogers said. “Every time I've ever worked with them they've been nothing but great.” Bowman is from Michigan and died in North Carolina.

He chose Dayton as his final resting place. “The answer they gave me as to why they chose Dayton is because Bear Creek Cemetery is where a lot of his outlaw brothers were already buried,” said Rogers.

Galloping Goose MC members sentenced

Kansas City, Missouri (March 15, 2019) BTN — Three men have been sentenced in federal court this week for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that led to the kidnap and torture of an Independence man almost three years ago. Randal Holmes of Kansas City, also known as “Peckerwood” or “Wood,” Michael Borrusch of Lakewood, Colorado, also known as “Birdie” were sentenced Thursday during separate appearances in federal court in Kansas City.

Holmes, 54, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Borrusch was sentenced to three years and 10 months. Jeremy Bond, 40, of Independence, was sentenced Wednesday to two years and six months in federal prison without parole. In July, Holmes pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute 50 kilograms or more of marijuana and brandishing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Borrusch and Bond pleaded guilty to roles in drug trafficking. Holmes’ son and co-defendant Gerald, 27, also known as “Jerry” or “Joker,” and Richard Phoenix, 77, also known as “Snake,” have also pleaded guilty in the case and await sentencing. The Holmes duo and Phoenix were part of the Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club.

This particular drug trafficking lasted from May into September 2016, according to court documents. Bond invested $10,000, receiving $1,000 a week in return and free marijuana until the investment was repaid in full. The investment allowed Gerald Holmes and the eventual kidnapping victim to purchase greater quantities of marijuana in Colorado and then resell it in the Kansas City area. Conspirators bought at least 120 pounds of marijuana from Borrusch in Colorado, paying between $1,600 and $2,400 per pound. Randal Holmes received $100 for each pound brought back to Kansas city because of his prior connection to Borrusch. According to court documents from the state charges that preceded the federal ones, the kidnapping victim had made several drug runs for the motorcycle club.

But in September 2016, Gerald and Randal Holmes kidnapped him because he had taken the latest bunch of cash and the car given to him, had parked the car at Kansas City International Airport and had flown to Denver and then Las Vegas, where he spent the money.

The Holmes pair kidnapped the victim by going to his father’s house and having him call his son and tell him he was being held a gunpoint and needed to come to the house right away.


When the victim arrived, they pointed a gun at him, told him to get in the vehicle and then drove away to another conspirator’s house, beating him up along the way.

Phoenix met them at the house, and the victim was taken to a basement and beaten with fists and a ballpeen hammer. The men also threatened to cut off his fingers and toes using tin snips, demanding to know where a duffel bag of money was, and according to state documents gave him methamphetamine when we went unconscious so he could wake up and be beaten again. Phoenix then held the victim at gunpoint until the Holmes pair returned. The father and son then drove the victim to a home in rural Benton County, reportedly owned by a member of a support motorcycle club, where he was beaten again.

They then told the victim to call his father and tell him he was OK, had taken a beating that he deserved and would be home in a couple days. Law-enforcement officials traced the phone call and found the victim the day after the kidnapping took place. They saw his face was swollen and bloodied, and he also had injuries to his head, hands and feet, including a fractured hand, and had trouble walking. Officers found a pistol in Randal Holmes’ vehicle and another one in the house where the victim was held. They also found five guns, 36 grams of pot and drug paraphernalia in another residence.

SOURCE: Neosho Daily News

Funeral for murdered Hells Angels member scheduled

Mississauga, Canada (March 15, 2019) BTN — A massive turnout is expected for the funeral of Michael (Diaz) Deabaitua-Schulde, 32, a full-patch Hells Angels member who was murdered in broad daylight at a Mississauga strip mall Monday. All of Ontario's roughly 200 Hells Angels members are required to attend and Hells Angels charters from across the country must also send members, a source said.

A Quebec man with Hells Angels ties is already in custody on first-degree murder charges and police have issued a Canada-wide first-degree murder warrant for another Montreal man who has a history of weapons possession, fraud and possession of false documents, and is awaiting trial for allegedly intimidating someone connected to the court system. The funeral of Deabaitua-Schulde, a father of two, is set for Saturday, March 23 at the Vescio Funeral Home in Woodbridge, according to the funeral home's website.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up in Deabaitua-Schulde's name. "God called Michael on Monday March 11, 2019, at the age of 32," his online obituary begins. "He will be forever missed by his loving spouse, Ashley and his children … He will be held dear in the hearts of his family, relatives, and many friends." As his funeral is being planned, police continue to hunt for Montreal fugitive Joseph Pallotta, 38. Deabaitua-Schulde was shot dead shortly before noon on Monday outside a gym in Mississauga at 700 Dundas St. E., near Cawthra Road. Peel Regional Police chief Chris McCord said that Deabaitua-Schulde was the victim of a targeted attack. Pallotta is considered armed and dangerous.

Related | Hells Angel MC member killed in shooting

Peel Regional Police announced on Thursday that they have arrested two Montreal men and that Pallotta is their third suspect. None of the three suspects are members of biker gangs but they are linked to organized crime, Peel Regional Police acting Supt. Martin Ottaway said at a press conference on Thursday. Marckens Vilme, 28, of Montreal was also charged with first-degree murder for Deabaitua-Schulde's death, Peel Regional police announced on Thursday. Vilme has a lengthy criminal record that shows a long-standing association with a Montreal street gang called the Ruffriders, and connections to Quebec Hells Angels.

The Ruffriders are considered by police to be associated with a larger Montreal street gang called les bleus, who in turn are close to the Quebec Hells Angels. Vilme's record includes convictions for violence and drug trafficking in Pierrefonds and in the west part of Montreal island. Vilme was sentenced to 21 months in jail for drug trafficking in June 2011 and eight months for conspiracy and extortion in February 2014. He also has an outstanding assault charge in Laval.

A third suspect Jonathan Martinez-Seyes, 27, was charged on Wednesday night with complicity after the fact. Deabaitua-Schulde was a member of the Niagara Region charter of the Hells Angels. One of his fellow Niagara Region members has been seen in Montreal several times recently, according to a Quebec source. Peel Regional police recovered a burned blue Honda Civic at the corner of Rymal Road and Tomken Road shortly after the murder on Monday.

SOURCE: The Hamilton Spectator

Harry "Taco" Bowman funeral set for fairgrounds

Dayton, Ohio, USA (March 15, 2019) BTN — Harry Joseph "Taco" Bowman, the former president of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club who was on the FBI's top ten most wanted fugitive's list, will have his funeral on Saturday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Bowman's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

A procession from the fairgrounds to Bear Creek Cemetery on North Union Road in Madison Twp. will begin at 12 p.m. Sheriff's Deputies will be shutting down North Union Road to Hoover Avenue in Trotwood for the funeral. Additionally, deputies will also partially close down Infirmary Road from the Montgomery County fairgrounds to SR-35 for the procession.

Related | Outlaws MC: Harry "Taco" Bowman dead at 69

Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said officers are not expecting any safety issues but given the size of the crowd and the reputation of the group, they do have contingency plans in place. "There's always concerns when you have get large groups of people who have been known to be violent. They do not try to hide that fact," Streck said. "(But) We don't have any chatter of suspected violence, we don't have any indications that other clubs are going to try and cause trouble at the event." 

Bowman, who was serviving a life sentence in federal prison, died on Sunday at the Federal Medical Center in North Carolina. He was 69 years old. According to the Detroit News, Bowman was considered one of the most infamous motorcycle club leaders in U.S. history. The Outlaws were rivals to the Hell's Angels.


Bowman was placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List in 1998, interrupting what had been a relatively low profile kept by Bowman while serving as leader of the Outlaws. In 2001, he was convicted in a Federal court in Florida of the murders of several rival club members, firebombings, racketeering and conspiracy among other charges.

He was sentenced to two life sentences plus 83 years. Bowman had a long-running feud with Hell's Angels leader Sonny Barger over which club was superior. Several members of the Outlaws were previously interned at Bear Creek Cemetery.

SOURCE: WDTN2 News

Hells Angels ride off from their clubhouse

New York, NY (March 22, 2019) BTN — The Hells Angels have been vacating their East Village clubhouse and residence in recent days, an exodus spurred by the apparent transfer of their six-story building to a buyer. The new owner, Nathan Blatter, president of the Whitestone Realty Company in Brooklyn, said he was not available for immediate comment.

A pickup truck parked across the street from the Hells Angels clubhouse this past weekend 

So where are the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club heading on their motorcycles after 50 years at 77 E. Third St.?

Related | Hells Angels might sell their 3rd Street clubhouse
Related | Man punched in front of Hells Angels clubhouse

“We don’t know,” said a lean, member of the famed motorcycle club. As he moved packing material out through the clubhouse door over the weekend, he shielded his face from this reporter’s camera. Two motorcycles belonging to the Hells Angels were parked outside. Across the street was a pickup truck with and the words “Hell Bound” on its tailgate.

Last Thursday, The Villager rang the bell on the clubhouse door repeatedly after learning the Angels were leaving. Finally, a muscular biker of middle age came outside, his face nearly covered by a sock cap and huge sunglasses.

“No pictures,” he said, declining a request to pose for a photograph. “But you can take photos of the clubhouse if you want.” Was he going to miss it? “Of course, I’m going to miss it,” the black-clad biker replied as he walked west toward Second Ave.

The building has some distinctive touches. The ground floor’s red-brick facade bears the Angels “death’s head” insignias. There’s also plaque commemorating deceased club president “Big Vinnie” Girolamo, along with his motto, “When in doubt, knock ’em out.” The rotund biker died in 1979 before he could stand trial for allegedly throwing his girlfriend Mary Ann Campbell off the roof of the clubhouse to her death, reportedly because he believed she was an F.B.I. informant.

The federal government tried for years to shut down the clubhouse under a 1984 law that allows seizure of properties used for drug trafficking. In 1985, it was one of 12 “H.A.” hangouts raided by F.B.I. agents across the country. The G-men arrested 15 New York City members and confiscated drugs like cocaine.

The incident and the resulting convictions became part of an unsuccessful 1994 civil lawsuit by the government to take over the East Village clubhouse. All that, of course, was a long time ago. Several newcomers to the East Village seem to revere the Angels as heroes.

Three teenage female students who live in a dormitory run by the New York City Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, at 81 E. Third St., said they would miss the bikers’ presence on the block. “I won’t be able to tell my friends anymore that I live next door to the Hells Angels,” one said, plaintively.

Nina Holton, 18, a Barnard student who was photographing Angels motorcycles on Saturday, said her mother lives on E. Third St. “She’s upset and sad that they are leaving,” Holton said. “She feels they added character to the neighborhood and now they’ll be replaced by some developer who’ll build condos.”

Holton believes the Angels helped keep the neighborhood safe and provided a sense of community. “I’d pass the clubhouse late at night, and a couple of them would be outside and they’d nod,” she recalled. “They were like eyes on the street.”

Others on the block are clearly terrified of them.

“They’re known for being menacing and they cultivate that image,” said a longtime block resident who asked only to be identified as a community activist. She claimed the Angels had “assaulted” a friend of hers and her boyfriend’s.

“I try to stay as a far away from them as possible,” she said. “It’s a myth that they make neighborhoods safe.” The woman noted that the Angels have become known recently for “ridiculous disputes over parking spaces and their stupid cones” used to reserve public spaces as their own.

“One of them shot someone in the stomach over a parking cone,” she said. She was referring to now-deceased Angel prospect Anthony Iovenitti, who was accused of shooting David Martinez, 25, in the early-morning hours of December 2016. A rumble erupted erupted after Martinez had gotten out of his Mercedez- Benz to move an orange cone blocking his car’s way. Assault and weapons possession charges were dismissed against Iovenitti after he died at 52 of an aneurysm during a motorcycle trip in 2017.

Captain John L. O’Connell, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, said there were “no interactions” with the club since his arrival last year “except for one short fight.”

In that instance, a 22-year-old deliveryman was sucker-punched in the face for parking in front of the clubhouse in late December 2018, according to the Daily News. O’Connell noted that his cops have taken away the Angels’ cones “because they’re not allowed to reserve spots on a public street.”

Criminal defense lawyer Ron Kuby has represented members of the club for years. He dismissed claims by some in law enforcement that the Hells Angels are into rackets and operate like organized crime.

“Think of it as a church,” he said of the group. “Members of clergy who violate the law don’t make the church a criminal enterprise.”

The New York City Hells Angels are actually incorporated in New York State as the Church of the Angels, a nonprofit religious organization. That name was used when club members purchased the property in 1977, for a reported $1,900. The moniker was used again last year in a preliminary memorandum of contract to sell the property to 77 East Third LLC, a limited-liability company linked to the aforementioned Nathan Blatter, EV Grieve reported last month. A 2013 court dispute over a deceased Angel president, Sandy Alexander, who had held title to the deed, was settled last year, apparently leading to a sale.

Kuby said he doesn’t know the buyer or the club’s current president “and I have no authorization to speak to the press with regard to the business sale.” He also couldn’t provide a “nose count” on the number of members in the club. He only said that most of them are just “looking to be left alone and to ride motorcycles with their colleagues.”

Photos: Mary Reinholz

SOURCE: The Villager 

Hells Angel MC member killed in shooting

Mississauga, Canada (March 12, 2019) BTN — A full patch member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club was the victim of a fatal shooting Monday in a Mississauga plaza that sent bystanders scrambling for cover in what was described as a "chaotic scene." The shooting outside a popular gym comes amidst a massive shuffling amongst the Hells Angels in Ontario, multiple sources said.

Peel Regional Police are investigating whether a burnt-out car found in the area was the shooter's getaway vehicle. A senior Hells Angels member from London, Ont., has recently moved to the Niagara Region to bolster the club there while Keswick-area Hells Angels have moved to Ottawa, multiple sources said.

Peel Region paramedics and heavily-armed tactical officers with police dogs responded to gunfire at 700 Dundas St. E. near Cawthra Rd., just before 11:20 a.m. on Monday A 32-year-old man was rushed to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries, according to Peel paramedics. Police said he died in hospital. His name has not yet been released. "It's a chaotic scene and we're just waiting in the car," tweeted Joyce Clarissa, who was visiting St. John the Baptist Anglican Church across the street. Clarissa said she saw at least two people running into their vehicles as police were responding to the scene. "They're taping off the whole plaza," she said.


The plaza houses Huf Gym, the Floor Shop and other businesses. The shooting occurred near the gym. Olga Rosa Heron, who owns the gym, said the victim ran into her facility for help after he was shot. Huf Gym employees "helped him out and hopefully they can be an asset to the investigation as well," she said. Peel Const. Iryna Yashnyk said police were investigating a scene near the Bank of Montreal at Dundas St. E. and Tomken Rd., in relation to the shooting. "As far as suspect information, we know that there was one male running east on Dundas towards, which we now know is what we believe is a second associated scene," Const. Bancroft Wright told reporters.

The elite Hells Angels Nomads chapter returned to the Ottawa area this year, three years after the chapter was abruptly dismantled. The Nomads are considered an elite group who require little direction. The Ontario Nomads had run into conflict with Quebec Hells Angels, sources said. The Hells Angels have about 175 Ontario members and 450 members across Canada.

SOURCE: The Star