BC Rail corruption trial delayed again

The political corruption trial of three former B.C. government employees has been delayed yet again, this time so that the Crown can cut the number of witnesses in its case.

The trial of Dave Basi, Bobby Virk, and Aneal Basi was supposed to resume in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday morning but the Crown asked the judge for more time to reorganize its case.

Crown prosecutorsare reducing theirlist of witnesses; a move Justice Anne MacKenzie told the jury is for everyone's benefit.

When the trial started in May, jurors were told the case would last about six weeks but it's now expected to run until the end of March.

Former political aides Dave Basi and Virk are accused of fraud and breach of trust for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for inside government information about the $1-billion sale of BC Rail.

Aneal Basi is accused of money laundering in a case that culminated with a raid at the B.C. legislature in December 2003.