(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
May 28, 2014 - 5:42 PM
KAMLOOPS – The buyer and seller of a stolen boat were in Kamloops Supreme Court this afternoon explaining how a vehicle priced well below market value—and without proper registration papers—didn’t raise any red flags.
Kevin Peel, born in 1964, of Pinantan Lake, B.C. faces one charge of possessing stolen property over $5,000 and another of trafficking stolen property.
The boat was valued at $9,000 and stolen from Peachland in 2012. Mike Lauriault sold the boat to Peel that same year. He told the court he bought it for $5,500 from a friend of his daughter. But the boat’s one-time owner—Evan Poisson of Calgary—never appeared on any sale or transfer documents.
Lauriault said he hoped to flip the boat for a higher price and sold it to Peel for around $6,000. Lauriault sold vehicles to Peel in the past.
Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston asked Lauriault if the boat’s original low price seemed odd.
Lauriault said it didn’t surprise him because the sale was in the off season, where these vehicles typically sell for less. He attributed the low price to a need for cash. He said the paper trails for many boats are shoddy which leads to cases of boats involved in money laundering cases.
Livingston suggested Lauriault knew or ought to have known something was wrong when he bought the boat.
“You were aware it was too good of a deal to be true,” Livingston said.
The trial is set to continue on May 29. Peel is not in custody.
To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infotelnews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014