Canadian man loses lawsuit to recover $1.2 million in treasure collection

A Canadian man has lost a 16-year legal battle to recover more than C$1.2 million (£651,000) in cash seized from his home.

In 2009, police searching for illegal firearms discovered large amounts of money and various drugs stashed in various locations around Marcel Breton’s home in northwestern Ontario.

Bratton was found guilty of multiple offences, but was acquitted at a retrial after arguing that the search of his property was unlawful.

But earlier this week, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a 2023 ruling that the majority of the seized funds should go to the Canadian government, ending his chances of recovering the money.

The trial judge concluded that Brayton did not lawfully possess the cash found around his property.

Police found $1,235,620 buried under his garage, $32,000 stored elsewhere in the garage, and bundles of money totaling $15,000 hidden in underfloor heating ducts in the living room.

In particular, the presiding judge noted that “it would be unusual for an ordinary person to have such a large amount of money buried in a bathtub under their own property,” with the most common denomination being $20 — an amount experts say is often associated with drug dealing — and that the cash was found near drugs and drug paraphernalia.

The judge said Brayton also failed to report any income to the tax office between 2001 and 2008.

But the Court of Appeal upheld a decision to return $15,000 found in the vent of his home to him because the judge could not rule out that the money had been obtained legally because it was not bundled in a consistent denomination like the cash found in the garage.