Some of the inner workings of the Nanaimo Hells Angels have been laid out in a B.C. Supreme Court ruling convicting one of the gang’s original members of extortion and theft.
Robert (Fred) Widdifield was part of the plot to strong-arm his former business partner and close friend into handing over money and property, including a yacht called Dream Chaser, Justice Robin Baird said in the ruling, released Friday.
The former friend, identified only as J.H. in the ruling, went to police in 2010 after being repeatedly threatened by Nanaimo Hells Angel Rajinder Sandhu.
Sandhu was tried separately, as were two others involved: Robert Lajeunesse and Jeffrey Benvin.
Baird heard that J.H.’s problems with the bikers stemmed back to an unpaid $62,000 loan he had received in 1993 from a Nanaimo woman who later moved away without providing a forwarding address.
For years, he heard nothing about the debt until Sandhu knocked on his door in early 2010.
“It quickly became clear that this was not a social visit. Sandhu got right down to business and told J.H. that he had come to discuss a pretty major problem,” Baird wrote.
Sandhu told J.H. that he would have to repay the loan, as well as a “stupid tax” for his alleged unauthorized use of the club’s name and reputation (J.H. allegedly told the woman to whom he owed money that he would send Widdifield after her if she didn’t back off, which he denies).
Sandhu told J.H. that he was acting on behalf of the Hells Angels and demanded an immediate payment of $100,000.
“He said that he was not supposed to explain things to J.H.; his instructions had simply been to demand the money and to administer a beating. He warned J.H. to pay up and not to talk to anyone about the matter or ‘it would be bad for me and worse for you,’ ” Baird said in the ruling.
J.H. denied he had used the Hells Angels name, but “knew from the beginning that the matter was serious and that if dire consequences were to be avoided, he was going to have to pay up,” Baird said.
Because he didn’t have enough cash, he offered to sell the boat he had purchased for $137,500 in 2007.
“After this meeting, Sandhu kept J.H.’s feet to the fire by intermittently sending him threatening and abusive text messages, telling him essentially to pay up or else,” Baird said. “He said in those messages, among other things, that he guessed J.H. would no longer be dropping Widdifield’s name.”
Sandhu told J.H. his “wannabe” gangster days were over and that “he should pay his debts and ‘get the f--- out of town.’ ” But Sandhu also warned that if J.H. moved to Kelowna, “a member of the club in that city had been briefed and would be waiting for him.”
“Not surprisingly, J.H. began to think that he was in imminent danger of harm at the hands of Sandhu or some other member of the club. He contacted the police, not to lodge a formal complaint, but to report what was going on in case something happened to him. He also bought a recording device with which he surreptitiously recorded five of his later conversations with Sandhu,” Baird noted.
During one of those conversations, at the Wellington pub in Nanaimo in March 2010, Sandhu was almost apologetic and “claimed to be unhappy with the errand that the club had sent him on.” J.H. eventually turned his yacht over to Sandhu, who advertised it for sale. Widdifield was present both when the buyer went to see the boat, as well as — significantly, the judge said — when the deal went through. Sandhu received a large sum of cash in a bag.
J.H. thought the debt was repaid, but he continued to be harassed and threatened by Lajeunesse, who told him he still owed the original money to the woman.
J.H. eventually contacted both Sandhu and Widdifield, but not before letting the RCMP know his problems were continuing.
In October 2010, J.H. attended a meeting at Widdifield’s house where he had hoped to get help with Lajeunesse.
Instead, Widdifield called Sandhu, who showed up with Lajeunesse. Lajeunesse made a threat and punched J.H. in the face. He got J.H. to confirm, in front of Widdifield, that he still owed $160,000. Lajeunesse and Benvin showed up at J.H.’s house to take a second boat while the victim was at the hospital getting his jaw treated.
Police arrested the pair the same day and the two Hells Angels a few days later.
Baird said Widdifield was guilty despite not being directly involved in the key events.
“I do not believe that Sandhu and Lajeunesse would ever have dared to enter onto Widdifield’s property and to threaten and assault his very old friend and associate if Widdifield had not been part of the unlawful common enterprise alleged,” Baird said.
“It is unlikely that Sandhu, who owes Widdifield a debt of loyalty and respect that comes with his membership in the club, would have acted against J.H. without Widdifield’s authorization or instruction.”
