POSTED ON 26/02/07
Fugitive to stay in jail until source of assets explained
PETTI FONG
VANCOUVER — Four days after he was ordered released from detention, Chinese fugitive Gao Shan remained in jail yesterday as he attempts to prove that his Canadian assets are not linked to proceeds of crime.
Mr. Gao has been living in Vancouver since late 2004 and a warrant was issued for his arrest by Chinese authorities in January of 2005.
The former bank manager with a Bank of China branch is suspected of being involved in an embezzlement scheme that transferred $100-million out of customers’ accounts.
But despite opposition from immigration lawyers representing the Canadian government, who argued last week that Mr. Gao will flee if released from custody, adjudicator Marc Tessler said the fugitive could be freed.
Mr. Tessler posted a number of conditions on Mr. Gao’s release. The 42-year-old man must post a $300,000 bond, based on two North Vancouver properties he and his wife own, and report weekly to the Canada Border Services Agency. He was also ordered to turn in his Chinese passport.
On Thursday, after Mr. Tessler’s decision, Canadian Border Services Agency investigators requested more information about the family’s finances, said Mr. Gao’s immigration adviser.
Alex Ning said his client and Li Xue, Mr. Gao’s wife, had expected that the adjudicator’s decision would mean that he could return home by Friday at the latest.
Mr. Ning said he was surprised that the CBSA raised questions about where the money had come from to purchase the two family residences owned by Mr. Gao and Ms. Li, because the adjudicator had addressed the origins of the funds.
The Chinese warrant for Mr. Gao’s arrest, dated Jan. 24, 2005, alleges the bank manager, who is accused of being part of the scheme by forging corporate seals, committed the crime in 2003 and 2004.
Ms. Li testified in the detention hearing last week that she purchased a downtown condominium in 2002 using $65,000 she had brought with her from China. The sale of that apartment was used to finance the first home the family purchased, a North Vancouver house now worth $545,000. A second apartment was bought in January and was intended as an investment or rental place to supplement the family’s income, she said.
The family includes the couple’s teenage daughter and were surviving in Canada solely on the $33,000 a year Ms. Li earns as a child-care worker.
Mr. Tessler, the immigration adjudicator, said there was no evidence that the family lived extravagantly and he was satisfied the properties were purchased from funds he could trace from the original sale of the downtown condo.
For at least a year, RCMP have been watching Mr. Gao, a fact that emerged at the detention hearing last week but was apparently known to Chinese authorities earlier.
Mr. Gao, his wife and daughter were arrested Feb. 16 on immigration warrants. Citizenship and Immigration officials allege that Mr. Gao lied about his occupation in his papers when he applied to become a permanent resident of Canada. He arrived in Canada in December of 2004; his wife was the primary applicant and she arrived in 2002. .
Last month, official Chinese newspapers stated that, before Mr. Gao was known to be living in Vancouver, the fugitive was under the surveillance of Canadian police.
Mr. Ning said he applied to the immigration adjudicator for help on why CBSA was able to stop Mr. Gao’s release.
Late Friday, Mr. Ning received a statement from Mr. Tessler, saying the immigration minister’s office has the power to determine the acceptability of the funds used to obtain release.
Mr. Gao, Ms. Li and their daughter are next expected in immigration court on March 6 for an admissibility hearing into whether they misrepresented Mr. Gao’s occupation on immigration papers.
