Wedding case: Canadian accused of cocaine trafficking wants to be released on bail

In Toronto, one of the four co-defendants of former Canadian Olympic surfer Ryan James Wedding is asking the courts to release him on bail before he is possibly extradited on drug trafficking charges. The FBI accuses Hardeep Ratte of belonging to a trafficking network responsible for transporting large quantities of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, the United States and Canada.

In total, 16 individuals are suspected of cocaine trafficking. Four of them are in custody in Toronto. Hardeep Ratte, of the four, is the first to have his bail hearing.

Ryan James Weddingwho is still on the run, is said to be the leader of the network and his compatriot Andrew Clarkhis right arm.

The federal prosecutor read an agreed statement of facts between the Crown and the defense of the 42-year-old individual who was arrested in mid-October in the Toronto area with his nephew and two other individuals.

Me Melissa Insanic, who represents the FBI in this case, claims that Hardeep Ratte is accused of drug trafficking for allegedly delivering two shipments of cocaine from Los Angeles to Canada in March and April 2024.

Help from an undercover agent

The investigation of FBI was facilitated by CW, an undercover agent who worked for 10 years with Wedding.

According to the Crown, Ratte is the head of the section transport of the network in Canada. He is assisted by an alleged courier, Rakhim Ibragimov, one of the 4 co-defendants in Canada. She claims that CW was ordered in Mexico to contact Hardep Ratte and his nephew Gurpreet Singh to send the drugs to Canada from California.

Me Insanic claims that the two men received $175 to $225,000 Canadian for each delivery after their meeting with CW in Toronto on February 22, 2024.

Still according to the Crown, Singh explained to CW that they were going to use Threema, an encrypted chat software, which will allow them to chat with him, the agent and his uncle.

The FBI talks about a fraudulent transaction involving two separate shipments of 293 and 375 kilos with a total value of between $8.45 and $9.1 million.

Conversations show that the first load consisted of 20 boxes and the second, several boxes.

According to court documents, the first shipment does not appear to have been seized but the second was indeed confiscated in California during a transfer of the drugs from one vehicle to another.

Bail of the accused

Six people from Hardeep Ratte’s family have vouched for his bail with the aim of his provisional release. The first three who testified Thursday say they have no criminal records.

The man’s wife, Sarbjit Ratte, offered $200,000 to have him released. She assures that she has a plan to monitor him at all times at their residence in Brampton and that she would not object if the court ordered that her husband wear a bracelet GPS on his ankle and confiscates his passport.

The 41-year-old woman is an accountant by training and she worked for 8 years for the manufacturing company MGF as vice-president of human resources, she says.

She adds that she earned $220,000 per year there, in addition to a 20% annual bonus, before finally leaving her job to take care of her children.

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The couple, who have been married for 17 years, have two sons aged 5 and 14. She resides at Brampton with his family and his parents who live with them for six months a year before returning to India.

Sarbjit Ratte explains that her husband is self-employed and that he has two towing companies: one in his name with a vehicle and another with associates called Viking Auto Collisionwhich has several tow trucks.

She says her partner earns $40,000 to $50,000 per year.

Real estate investments

The couple own five properties, including the family home in Bramptonas well as two properties to Niagara Fallsone to Thorold and a last one Blue Mountain. The value of the properties is over $2 million.

Four residences or condominiums are rented to tenants. The couple owns three cars: a BMW, a Cadillac and a Mercedes.

Ms. Ratte explains that she is willing to use the value of her properties if the amount she offers as security is insufficient.

I’m willing to lose everything to show that I’m serious about our exit planshe said.

She adds that she was shocked to learn of her husband’s arrest and that she understands very well the seriousness of the charges he faces.

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She states that her family will be responsible for monitoring the accused at all times, denying him access to electronic devices and accompanying him when he travels for medical reasons.

Ms. Ratte mentions that her residence is equipped with surveillance cameras that film anyone leaving the house at the front or back and that the surveillance system is connected to her smartphone.

In her cross-examination, she appeared nervous and confused about the questions the Crown was asking her about all of her mortgages and who owned the three luxury cars.

Yes, only the Mercedes belongs to meshe finally explained.

Other family guarantors

The accused’s sister, Harpreet Ratte, also offered $200,000 bail.

The 47-year-old nurse practitioner says she only lives a 5-minute drive from her brother’s residence and other family members are only a 5-minute walk away.

I know my brother, he will obey the court order, he has always listened to me, I have always had a good relationship with himshe said while admitting that her troubles with American justice disappointed her.

In her cross-examination, she admitted to the court that she was unaware that her brother and sister-in-law owned four rental homes. We never talk about our financesshe said.

Prosecutor Insanic also finds it strange that Harpreet Ratte must post $200,000 in bail when her brother and sister-in-law are much wealthier than her.

I didn’t ask my sister-in-lawshe specifies.

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The accused’s sister-in-law, Jatinder Gill, also offered $200,000 bail. Yes, I am aware that I risk losing this amount if he breaches his bail conditionssays the 46-year-old woman.

Ms. Gill also sees no problem in paying the same amount as her sister, who is nevertheless wealthier than her.

Hardeep is like a brother to me and our children are almost the same age and often play togethershe emphasizes.

I assure you that it will be well monitored, since I put all my savings as guaranteeshe concludes.

The three women also claim that they know very little about the accused’s nephew, Gurpreet Singh.

Three other members of the Ratte family must offer their share of money to increase the amount of bail, which currently stands at $600,000. The hearing will resume Friday morning.