Crown says ex-Mountie's actions an 'affront to Canadian sovereignty' as foreign influence trial nears end

A former Mountie committed "an affront to canadian river sovereignty" by allegedly performing in China's interests by targeting an alleged fraudster, a coronate public prosecutor told the adjudicate overseeing William Majcher's B.C. Supreme Court trial Friday.

As he laid out the Crown's final submissions, Ryan Carrier told Justice Martha Devlin that a "constellation" of facts proved Majcher was laying the groundwork for what amounted to a campaign of extortion against a B.C.-based real estate mogul wanted by the People's Republic of China (PRC).

"Mr. Majcher took steps to use the spectre of [China's] criminal pursuit and criminal proceedings to induce a permanent resident of Canada, living in Canada at the time, to acquiesce to the demands of a foreign government," Carrier told the judge.

"In doing so, Mr. Majcher knew that what he was doing benefited the PRC law enforcement, which was able to project its power beyond the PRC's borders into Canada ... This was an affront to Canadian sovereignty, a most serious threat."

Majcher has pleaded not guilty to one count of "engaging in preparatory acts to commit an offence" under Canada's Security of Information Act.

Carrier's closing submissions came after two days of testimony. Majcher's lawyer will make his final argument Monday.

The Crown claims the Chinese used Majcher in 2017 to do an "end-run" around Canadian laws preventing them from directly arresting or approaching multimillionaire Hongwei (Kevin) Sun, who moved to Vancouver after allegedly committing financial crimes in China.

Sun was accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from a Chinese bank, which he allegedly plowed into a Lower Mainland real estate empire.

The former head of the RCMP's liaison office in Beijing testified that China's Ministry of Public Security approached him about Sun in 2016.

Supt. Peter Tsui claimed the Chinese wanted the RCMP to act on historic fraud charges against Sun, but Canadian police were ultimately forced to give them a "hard no."

He said the Chinese eventually "changed their tactics" and asked if they could speak to Sun. The RCMP tracked the fugitive down, but he said he wouldn't talk with RCMP or Chinese authorities, saying they couldn't touch him in Canada.

Fast forward to March 2018, and Tsui said the Chinese police had cancelled an international "red notice" for Sun's arrest, saying they were in negotiations with the fugitive because of an expired passport that prevented him from travelling.

Carrier set the Crown's theory of the case against Majcher in that context, pointing to the contents of an email he wrote to a colleague in June 2017 — in the period after the RCMP closed the case on Sun and before the Chinese appeared to have entered negotiations with him.

Majcher moved to Hong Kong and founded a corporate risk firm specializing in asset recovery after retiring from the RCMP in 2007.

In the email, he spoke about an unnamed "fraudster" who the Crown contends is Sun.

"The fraudster is now a ... Major real estate mogul in Vancouver and we have located over $100M of assets. The Chinese Police have opened a Task Force and standing by to issue a global arrest warrant," the email reads.

"I hope to have a copy of the warrant before it is issued so we can impress upon the crook that we hold the keys to his future. I am meeting an associate of the target tomorrow in HK [Hong Kong] to see if he can help negotiate a settlement as the Chinese want to use this as a precedent case to settle economic crimes quietly and expeditiously."

The email doesn't name Sun, but Carrier claims the unique details of the situation make it obvious the "fraudster" could only be one man: Hongwei (Kevin) Sun.

The prosecutor claimed the email pointed to the preparation of a pressure campaign with a clear objective: forcing Sun to bend to China's will with threats backed by the Chinese state.

"That means something. The PRC is coming for you. It's like the Hells Angels are coming for you, but they're a bit of a joke compared to the PRC," the prosecutor told Devlin.

"The plan was — this is what you have to do and these are the consequences if you don't do it. The plan is to make him some kind of offer that you can't refuse."

Carrier said the email "demonstrated that he was working for the benefit of or in association with the Chinese authorities" because "Bill Majcher the private citizen is simply not able to guarantee Mr. Sun a passport and no jail time on his own."

The narrow courtroom gallery has been filled each day with Majcher's defenders, including a number of former police officers and private investigators who say their lives have also been upended as a result of the investigation into their friend.

Majcher's wife has also attended every day. Outside the courthouse this week, Majcher said he is hoping for a not guilty verdict that will see him head back to Hong Kong and his children.

His lawyer, veteran defender Ian Donaldson, told the judge he plans to make a number of key points in response.

In pre-trial proceedings, Donaldson has refuted the allegations against his client, convincing Devlin to issue a ruling in March that his 2023 arrest violated his right not to be arbitrarily detained.

Majcher claimed that the grounds for his arrest represented "nothing more than suspicion, speculation, hypotheses, and guesswork," the judge wrote, noting that she previously threw out a search warrant related to the case on similar grounds.

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