Alberta pensioner fights to reclaim home

Photo: CTV

Rebekah Caverhill is interviewed at her home in Sylvan Lake, Alta., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013. The Alberta pensioner says she feels like a prisoner after her rental property was claimed as an "embassy" by a man she says identified himself as a Freemen-on-the-Land, a growing movement of so-called sovereign citizens that is raising concerns with authorities both north and south of the border. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

An Alberta pensioner says she feels like a prisoner after her rental property was claimed as an "embassy" by a man she says identified himself as a Freemen-on-the-Land, a growing movement of so-called sovereign citizens that is raising concerns with authorities both north and south of the border.

"I am an army of one," says Rebekah Caverhill at her home in Sylvan Lake, near Red Deer. Tears stream down her face.

"I've been beat up so badly by people that should be helping that I don't know where to turn."

Caverhill rented half a duplex she owns in Calgary's upscale Parkdale neighbourhood to a new tenant in November 2011 on the recommendation of a friend.

The renter, Andreas Pirelli, had recently moved to Calgary from Montreal and was a self-described handyman. She says he agreed to "spruce up" the property in return for three months of free rent.

What she thought was a good deal soon turned into a nightmare.

A few months after Pirelli moved in, Caverhill went to inspect the work and she says she found the entire kitchen and bathroom had been gutted. All the doors inside had been removed and the floor of the master bedroom had been painted black, she says.

But Caverhill quickly learned she had much bigger problems.

"He walks me to the door and he's yelling at me, 'I'm a Freemen-on-the-Land,'" Caverhill says.

"I said: 'This is my house, not yours.' He said: 'No. This is an embassy house now and it's mine and you have no rights', so then he slams the door."

She says she discovered the locks had been changed and pounded on the door.

"I said: 'How come the key doesn't work?' He said: 'I changed the locks.' He said: 'It's not your home.'"

Caverhill depends on the rental income to supplement her pension.

Pirelli, who sources confirm also went by the name Mario Antonacci, informed her he was willing to pay $775 a month in rent, less than half the $1,500 plus utilities that she says had been agreed to.

She says she later received an invoice from Pirelli's company — CPC Universal Group — for $26,000 in work done to the home.

"I receive a thing in the mail from the Land Titles Office, that the property has been liened for $17,000," she says.

"I'm at wits' end and somebody says to me: 'Oh they're just a bunch of kooks' and I say: 'No, they're not. They're not kooks — they're crazy, yes, they're dangerous, yes.'

"As far as I'm concerned, anybody who sets up a company or an embassy on Canadian land and calls it a foreign entity, for me, that's a declaration of war."

No one came to the door at the home when The Canadian Press sought comment from Pirelli earlier this month.

A black Chevrolet Yukon with tinted windows was parked in front. A decal on the rear window said "No Weapons. No Agents. No Foreign Weapons within 3 metres of a Diplomat of a Foreign Nation."

Pirelli did respond to an email request with a warning sent both electronically and in a letter delivered by courier.

"I don't know who you are? I am telling and ordering to stand down all of the matters that your auhority things (sic) it may have, as this is a private matter," the warning reads. "Any intervening with these private matters have outstandings fees and schedules."

The warning goes on to claim trademarks on the name "Andreas Pirelli" and "The First Nations Sovran Embassy of Earth" and says publishing them "is an infringement of our copyrights, and are subject to trespass of our personal property."

"Everyone PERSON is entitled to their opinion, and what we state are not opinions, but a matter of the fact," the letter says.

Pirelli is listed on his LinkedIn social network page as Senior Chief Justice at Tacit Supreme In Law Court for Sovran Nations Embassies and as Supervisor-Co-ordinator-Estimator of CPC Universal Group of Calgary Division — the same company that placed a lien on Caverhill's home.

The Law Society of British Columbia and B.C. Notaries have both issued warnings about Freemen. In a bulletin last year, the society said the group may number as many as 30,000 in Canada.

RCMP and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police are developing awareness materials for frontline officers and the movement is the subject of upcoming policing seminars in Vancouver and Toronto.

The FBI considers the movement a domestic terror threat in the U.S.

A 2011 FBI report cites several cases where followers have clashed with law enforcement, including the 2010 shootings of two Arkansas officers during a routine traffic stop. It warns the movement is likely to grow, fuelled by the recent economic downturn and the popularity of seminars being held across the country.

"They may refer to themselves as 'constitutionalists' or 'freemen,' which is not necessarily a connection to a specific group, but, rather, an indication that they are free from government control," the report says. "They follow their own set of laws."

But a Freemen-on-the-Land member in B.C. told The Canadian Press earlier this month that violence is not advocated and has no place in the movement.

Caverhill has already served Pirelli with one eviction notice, but he hasn't left.

Attempts to get help from the police and politicians have been referred to the civil courts on the grounds that it's a landlord-tenant problem.

"It's an awful situation and she feels very powerless, so even though this is firmly in provincial jurisdiction we're trying to do everything we can to help and we've spent a lot of time on this," says Druh Farrell, the Calgary alderman who represents the area.

"I hope the province can come to her assistance because that is where the authority lies," Farrell added.

Calgary Police have been called about the matter on several occasions.

"Based on the information we have received so far, this appears to be a civil matter," says Staff Sgt. Jim Stinson.

"We have referred the homeowner to information on possible civil resolutions and will certainly investigate if we receive further details that indicate this may be a criminal matter."