According to Richmond News, the B.C. government is seeking the seizure of a townhouse in Richmond, Greater Vancouver. The government has charged drug trafficking and money laundering and is pursuing mortgages and other proceeds related to the property.
The provincial civil forfeiture supervisor filed a lawsuit in B.C. Superior Court on May 6, and Huang, the owner of a townhouse on Jones Road in Richmond, was charged with acquiring the property directly or indirectly through illegal activity and that the property was used to engage in illegal activities.
The illegal activities listed in the lawsuit include the production and trafficking of controlled substances, the possession and sale of marijuana, the laundering of proceeds of crime, and undeclared taxable income.
The lawsuit also names Chartell Properties Ltd., a real estate company that holds two mortgages on the property, its director, Wu, and a person surnamed Zhong as co-defendants. They are all accused of aiding or abetting Huang in carrying out the illegal activities listed in the lawsuit.
Allegedly, Chartell Real Estate and Wu's business practices involved "providing funds to people engaged in or related to illegal activities," including Huang, the owner of the townhouse.
According to the indictment, Chartell Real Estate obtained a mortgage loan as consideration for the loan to Huang, while Zhong obtained a mortgage and a rental assignment as consideration for the loan to Huang.
In the lawsuit, the B.C. government applied for forfeiture of Jones Road's townhouses, Chartell properties and mortgages held by Wu and Chung, rents transferred to Chung, and related proceeds on the grounds that they were "instruments and proceeds of illegal activities."
None of the allegations have been substantiated in court. The reporter searched the databases of the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court of British Columbia, but did not find a criminal file against the townhouse owner Huang. The B.C. prosecutor's office has also confirmed that there are no court documents in Huang's name at this time.
Nonetheless, under the BC Civil Forfeiture Act, a civil forfeiture supervisor can file a civil forfeiture action for property related to illegal activity even if the defendant is acquitted, not charged, or charges are stayed.
It is also clearly stated on the provincial government's website that "to successfully file a forfeiture claim, the civil forfeiture supervisor does not need to prove that you have been found guilty." However, "the supervisor must establish that the property in question is the proceeds or instruments of illegal activity and will use the evidence collected by the police to open the case." ”
In addition to this case, B.C.'s civil forfeiture supervisor filed another lawsuit last month against a Chinese national, Zhang Tianyi, the murderer of Sun Peng's kidnapping and ticket tearing case that once caused a sensation in the Chinese community in Greater Vancouver.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Zhang Tianyi and others kidnapped and killed Chinese Sun Peng in 2015, pleaded guilty in February 2017 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison, minus the time he has already been in custody, for a net sentence of 11 years and 11 months.
But in November 2023, Zhang Tianyi was released on full parole, less than seven years after he was sentenced. And some time before, he had been granted day parole.
But a month after being released on full parole, Zhang Tianyi committed another crime.
On December 20, 2023, Richmond RCMP officers entered a luxury apartment overlooking the Fraser River, where they claimed to have found tens of thousands of Canadian dollars in cash and several boxes filled with chemicals used to make fentanyl and methamphetamine. The owner of the apartment where the incident occurred was Zhang Tianyi.
On the same day, he and an accomplice took two cardboard boxes from the building's front desk and brought them back to their apartment on the fifth floor. The boxes were sent to Zhang Tianyi, and one of the boxes contained 5 heat-sealed foil bags, including 1 bag of iodine, 4 bags of sodium hydroxide, and each bag weighed about 5 kilograms. There are also 5 heat-sealed bags in the other box, which are 3 bags of iodine and 2 bags of benzomethyl ketone.
All three chemicals are used in the production of methamphetamine.
(The picture comes from the Internet and has nothing to do with the content)
RCMP officers then entered Zhang Tianyi's apartment and arrested him and his accomplices on the spot.
Police also found more than $50,000 in cash in the apartment, "bundled or packaged in a manner that does not conform to standard banking practices," as well as a banknote counter.
Near where most of the cash is hidden under the stairs, there are two cardboard boxes, each weighing about 25 kilograms, containing white powder — a chemical called 4-fluoroaniline-1-boc-piperidine, which is used to make fentanyl.
Since July 2022, the government has added the chemical to the list of "possibly posing a risk to public health or safety...... and there is no lawful purpose for importation into Canada or distribution in Canada".
The apartment where the incident occurred belonged to Zhang Tianyi and his wife. They acquired this 3-bedroom, 4-bathroom luxury apartment for $3.2 million in 2021.
BC's civil forfeiture director said the apartment should be confiscated because the apartment, along with the "cash and equipment seized in it, are instruments and proceeds of illegal activity." The application for forfeiture was formally submitted to the court in early April.
By the time the civil forfeiture proceedings began, Zhang Tianyi had not been criminally charged. He was arrested and returned to prison. In a note submitted to the parole board, Mr. Zhang said that the boxes belonged to his neighbors and that he was just going to help throw them away.
Since there are no new criminal charges, the parole board said it will re-enforce parole, and Zhang Tianyi's "risk of recidivism can be controlled by imposing residency and curfew conditions." ”