WERE the $140,000 discovered by police in the safe deposit box of Dean Wiwchar the money paid to him to take out gangster Sandip “Dip” Duhre, 36, at the busy Bar One restaurant in the Sheraton Wall Centre in the 1000-block of Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver on January 17, 2012?

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gregory Bowden called the money “very suspicious” and noted: “There is no evidence to suggest that Wiwchar was employed or had a legitimate means of earning that cash.”

He said: “In my view it would be reasonable to believe that Wiwchar obtained that cash as a result of criminal activity although not necessarily for the killing of Mr. Duhre.”

He added: “Nevertheless, the presence of the cash is consistent with the theory that Wiwchar killed Mr. Duhre for money.”

Wiwchar’s two accounts in a Vancouver bank had no money when they were opened in February 2012 two weeks after Duhre’s murder, but in April 2012 police came across $140,000.

The information came out in a ruling by Bowden released on Wednesday regarding admission of wiretap evidence against Wiwchar and Phillip Juan Ley in a firearms case.

Wiwchar was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of John Raposo in Toronto and his co-accused in the murder, Robby Alkhalil, is in a Greek prison waiting to be extradited to Canada.

Alkhalil also faces a first-degree murder charge in Duhre’s slaying. But Wiwchar has not been charged in Duhre’s murder.

The ruling also revealed that video camera footage showed a man with his head and face covered with a scarf and toque coming up to Duhre, who was seated at a table, and shooting him. He had a distinctive walk like Wiwchar as well as a similar height and build.

The vehicle used by the shooter was linked to Wiwchar and Ley.