Photo: File photo

The B.C. government has been successful in their civil suit to seize $163,380 found during a raid on a Penticton home last year.

A civil claim was filed in BC Supreme Court in July by B.C.'s Director of Civil Forfeiture against Anna Maria Pirillo and Davie Pirillo, following a police raid on a home on Wiltse Drive on Oct. 14, 2022. In a consent order in late August, the Pirillos agreed to forfeit the large amount of cash.

According to the civil claim, Penticton RCMP found the cash in a bedroom during the execution of the search warrant, in various denominations and bundled with elastic bands inside a backpack.

Police also found three one-kilogram bricks of cocaine in another bag and 21 ounces of psilocybin mushrooms, along with a record of transactions – known as "score sheets" – and a radio jammer, the civil claim states.

The suit claimed the money was bundled or packaged in a manner "not consistent with standard banking practices."

The director claimed the money is allegedly from the proceeds of and used was for unlawful activities, namely the trafficking of controlled substances.

According to online court records, the BC Prosecution Service has yet to lay any criminal charges against Anna Maria Pirillo or Davie Pirillo stemming from October's raid.

While criminal charges must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt,” civil forfeiture matters must only be proven "on the balance of probabilities" – a lower burden of proof.

The Pirillos agreed in the consent order to forfeit the cash to the province.