B.C. government employees plead guilty to corruption

VANCOUVER – The political corruption trial of three former B.C. government employees has come to a sudden end.

Former political aides Dave Basi and Bobby Virk have pleaded guilty to four counts linked to breach of trust and accepting rewards or benefits.

Charges have been stayed against Basi’s cousin, Aneal Basi, who was accused of money laundering.

The men were charged in connection with the $1-billion sale of BC Rail to CN Rail.

Crown prosecutor Bill Berardino said in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday that Dave Basi and Virk have "come forward and admitted a grave error in judgment."

He said they have no criminal record, a young family and have experienced a serious fall from grace.

Dave Basi and Virk were accused of taking bribes – cash, meals and NFL tickets – in exchange for leaking confidential material about the sale to another bidder, OmniTrax.

Dave Basi worked for then-minister of finance Gary Collins, while Virk worked for then-transportation minister Judith Reid.

The B.C. Liberals, headed by Premier Gordon Campbell, had promised not to sell the railway during the election campaign in 2001.

But in February 2003, the Campbell government announced a plan to sell the Crown-owned railway.

Charges weren’t laid until a year after the sensational and mysterious raid of the provincial legislature in December 2003, when Mounties executed a search warrant and carted away dozens of boxes of evidence.

The trial began in mid-May but sputtered quickly as Justice Anne MacKenzie frequently dealt with legal wrangling in the absence of the jury. Threat of mistrial even arose when the timetable jumped from six weeks to 10 months, however, all 12 jurors agreed to remain.

Mike Farnworth, the B.C. opposition’s house leader, said the biggest corruption case in the history of the province has ended with a whimper. The New Democrat said the questions of the public must still be answered.

"It stinks," he said. "The air needs to be cleared and there should be a public inquiry to get to the bottom of it."