One of many police photos shows cash uncovered in a buried stash inside an Ontario garage. National Post
A man from northwestern Ontario has lost his 16-year effort to take back more than C$1.2 million seized by police from his home. The case began in 2009 when officers searched Marcel Breton’s property for an illegal firearm. During the search, they uncovered bundles of cash hidden in several unusual spots, along with drugs.
Breton faced criminal charges after the search. A court found him guilty, but he later won a retrial by arguing the search was not lawful. Even so, the fate of the seized money remained unresolved for years.
This week, his long legal struggle ended. An Ontario appeals court upheld a 2023 decision that ordered almost all of the seized money to go to the federal government. The ruling closed the door on Breton’s attempt to reclaim the fortune.
Where Police Found the Cash
The trial judge reviewed where the money came from and how it was stored. Officers recovered C$1,235,620 buried under the garage. They also found C$32,000 in another part of the garage. Inside the home, police discovered another $15,000 tucked into the living room’s under-floor heating vents.
The judge described the storage methods as suspicious. He noted that “it was unusual for an average person to have such a large amount of money buried in tubs underneath their property.” Most of the bills were in C$20 denominations, which an expert said often appear in drug transactions. The cash also sat close to drugs and drug-related items. The court pointed out that Breton had not reported any income between 2001 and 2008.
Appeal Court Stands Firm
The appeals court reviewed the judge’s findings and agreed with the main ruling. Nearly all the money will stay with the government because Breton offered no convincing proof that the funds came from lawful sources. The hidden cash, the drug evidence, and the lack of reported income all influenced the decision.
However, the appeals court did order that one portion of the cash be returned. The $15,000 found inside the heating vents must go back to Breton. The trial judge had noted that this money did not match the consistent denominations seen in the buried cash, and its origin remained unclear. Because the court could not rule out that it was legally earned, Breton will recover only that small part of the total amount.
The decision leaves him with a fraction of the money seized more than a decade ago. The rest now belongs to the federal government, ending one of Ontario’s longest-running disputes over seized cash.
