Harold Backer, 54, pleaded not guilty to two fraud charges on Sept. 27, 2017.
New court documents released Monday about former investment dealer Harold Backer reveal new details on a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge he has launched in connection with police searches conducted in 2015.
Backer, a former Olympic rower and mutual fund salesman, disappeared on Nov. 3, 2015. After he disappeared, his clients received letters from him explaining he had lost their investments.
Backer did not resurface until April 2017 when he turned himself into police.
He has been charged and has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 dollars.
On Monday, following an application by CHEK News and other media organizations, a provincial court judge released documentation on Backer’s claim that his rights were breached by police during the investigation that led to his arrest.
Specifically, Backer’s lawyer is claiming the Victoria police conducted warrantless searches and seizures on Nov 3, 5, 6 and 9, 2015 that violated Backer’s right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Those searches occurred immediately after Backer went missing. His fraud trial is scheduled to start this September.
CHEK News
