Vancouver developer denies corruption charges in China

Michael Ching has been named as one of China’s top 100 fugitives.

Vancouver developer denies corruption charges in China

Jan 18th, 2015. Pictured from left to right: Liberal MP candidate Andrew Leslie, Former Richmond MP Raymond Chan and local property developer Michael Ching at a Liberal fundraiser that took place in Vancouver. Ching, through his representatives, denies that he is same person as Muyang Cheng, a man sought by Chinese authorities over allegations of corruption. [Masonic Handshake? Hmmm. Doesnt this make a delightful threesome! lights cameras action]

OTTAWA — A wealthy Vancouver businessman is heading to the Federal Court of Canada in June as part of his lengthy bid to avoid being sent to China to face corruption charges.

Mo Yeung (Michael) Ching, also known as Cheng Muyang, was named last week by Chinese state media as being among the country’s top 100 fugitives, a list that includes 25 others in Canada.

But Ching has alleged that the evidence against him was a product of torture, and he has also suggested the charges were influenced by domestic Chinese politics. He has not been tried or convicted of any crime.

Ching has a lot at stake, as he faces a maximum penalty of life in jail on the charge of “misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement (and) transfer and concealment of illegally acquired goods,” according to the 2001 arrest warrant obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

Ching, 45, arrived in B.C. in 2000 and is currently living with his wife and three children in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

Ching is the owner of Mo Yeung International Enterprises Ltd. and is on the board of directors of the Canada Asia Pacific Business Association.

The private company is developing the proposed International Trade Centre, touted as “Richmond’s next epicentre of business.”

Ching has refused numerous requests for a formal interview since The Sun first contacted him in late 2013, but he did drop some hints in emails about his view of the validity of the allegations.

“In a power struggle, some members of the Chinese Communist Party would use its legal system to get rid of their political enemies,” Ching, the son of a prominent Chinese official who was removed in a 2003 anti-corruption crackdown, said in one email exchange.

According to Interpol, the France-based international police cooperation agency, he is wanted on a variety of alleged offences involving misappropriation and theft.

But Ching has challenged those allegations, asserting that the two witnesses who testified against him in connection with business transactions in 1996-97 had been tortured.

Ottawa’s first bid to send him back to China failed when a one-person Immigration and Refugee Board panel declared him admissible to Canada in 2009.

The ruling gave considerable weight to the torture allegations.

But a 2011 decision by a one-person Immigration Appeal Division panel reversed that decision, determining that the evidence was sufficient to deem him inadmissible.

However, that decision has been held “in abeyance” in connection with a number of legal complications, including Ching’s legal challenge of the objectivity of the panelist who ruled against him.

In late November, a lawyer for Ching filed an application for a judicial review of a Nov. 4, 2014, decision by Gordon C. McRae, a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

The application seeks a review of McRae’s determination that Ching “is not a (United Nations) Convention refugee nor in need of protection.”

A one-day hearing has been scheduled for June 23 in Winnipeg.

However, if Ching loses that bid it is believed he still has legal avenues to avoid being removed.

The Sun attempted to contact Ching on Wednesday but was unsuccessful. David Matas, a prominent immigration lawyer based in Winnipeg, and Vancouver lawyer David Lunny both said they couldn’t comment on their client’s status.

Ching’s case has added prominence in China because he is the son of Cheng Weigao, who in 2003 became one of the most senior Communist Party officials to be booted from the party because of corruption allegations following a three-year investigation.

Cheng (his name is spelled differently from his son’s because Michael Ching uses the Cantonese spelling) was never charged before his 2010 death to cancer, a point Ching noted in one of his emails to The Sun.

“My late father was never charged let alone convicted of any offence.”

Ching has largely kept a low profile in B.C., but has a friendship with former Liberal cabinet minister Raymond Chan.

Chan said in a brief interview that he wasn’t aware of the allegations against Ching in China.

Ching was also photographed at a reception in Richmond in January 2011 that featured then-leader Michael Ignatieff and a number of veteran Liberals, including Vancouver-Quadra MP Joyce Murray.

Ching has contributed primarily to the Liberal Party of Canada, including $1,200 to Trudeau’s successful campaign to win the party’s leadership in 2013.

But he also gave $1,100 to the Conservative Party’s Abbotsford riding in 2011, and $400 to the Conservatives’ Richmond riding the following year.

“I believe in participating in the democratic process and regularly contribute to different political parties in the federal, provincial and municipal levels, including the Conservative Party, Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and others,” Ching explained in an email.

The Chinese embassy would not comment on the case or on Ching’s status in Canada.

China has launched a new crackdown against corrupt officials and ex-officials domestically and abroad, including Canada. The initiative is rooted in initiatives taken after President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2013.

In his first speech Xi vowed to fight for “the great renaissance of the Chinese nation,” and that included cleaning up a Communist Party he believed was plagued with corruption.

“Predecessors have used similarly strong language, but Mr Xi appears to be taking the problem far more seriously,” The Economist magazine reported last month.

China’s release this week of the names of its top 100 fugitives, including Ching and 25 others in Canada, may have been more of a “public relations” stunt given the difficulty the country has in bringing back alleged criminals to face the country’s harsh justice system, the University of Hong Kong’s Michael Davis told the South China Morning Post.

In 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Chinese president Hu Jintao announced a memorandum of understanding on combating crime, and in February of 2012, Harper and former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao announced plans to “strengthen cooperation in combating transnational crime and repatriating fugitives.”

The 2012 news release noted that negotiations would be launched on an agreement to repatriate proceeds of crime, though those talks are still ongoing.

It also noted Canada’s agreement to finally deport fugitive Lai Changxing in 2011, and cited China’s 2012 prosecution of Ang Li for the murder of Amanda Zhao in Burnaby in 2002.

In the 2010-12 period, two of the most famous economic fugitives in Canada — Lai Cheong Sing and Gao Shan — returned to China after years of legal battles against the Canadian government. Lai was deported and Gao voluntarily returned.

“These were the landmark cases indicating some kind of progress” in the repatriation of Chinese fugitives, said Vincent Yang, an international law professor at the University of Saint Joseph in Macau, China. 

Vancouver developer denies links to Chinese corruption case

They look alike, have near identical names, and are both related to a former high-ranking member of China’s ruling Communist Party who was expelled for corruption. But are Michael Ching and Muyang Cheng the same man?

Michael Ching, through his representatives, denies that he and Muyang Cheng are the same man.

Ching is a prominent Vancouver property developer with strong political connections to the Liberal Party of Canada, and often appears at local fundraising events. He also goes by another name, Mo Yeung Ching.

Cheng, 45, is a Chinese fugitive who reportedly fled to Canada in 2000 with millions of dollars of ill-gotten money. He has been the subject of an Interpol Red Notice since about 2013.

One of Ching’s lawyers told The Province they are of the opinion they are different men. But at the same time, they confirmed their client is somehow related to Cheng’s late father, Cheng Weigao.

The Federal Liberal Party isn’t so sure, and has launched an internal review to find out whether Ching is Cheng, and if any illicit gains have poured into party coffers.

“The Party is taking it seriously in Ottawa, and there are actions to review the concern, and that is what is happening now,” said a well-placed source in the Liberal Party of Canada.

The confusing narrative centres on Beijing’s ongoing efforts to repatriate fugitives living abroad, which began several years ago with a wave of Red Notices issued by Interpol on Beijing’s request. Then last week, in a fresh crackdown dubbed by Beijing as Operation Sky Net, the names and faces of more than two dozen Chinese fugitives wanted on an assortment of alleged corruption charges and believed to be living in Canada were broadcast.

In each instance, Cheng’s grinning face, with its distinctive mole near the right eye, was among the accused. His alleged crime: political corruption (see sidebar).

The Province first began asking about the man in the Interpol Red Notice back in February. The trail quickly led to Vancouver lawyer Lawrence Wong, who represents Michael Ching, the president of Mo Yeung International Enterprise Ltd., a Richmond-based development company.

During an interview, Wong said his client is not the same person featured in the Interpol Red Notice. He did confirm, however, that Ching is related to the late Cheng Weigao, the former governor and Communist Party chief of China’s Hebei Province whose career ended in disgrace in 2003 amid allegations of corruption, bribery and strong-arming.

Cheng Weigao had one son: his name is Muyang Cheng.

Wong would not comment on the picture of Muyang Cheng that is attached to the Interpol notice. And further questions about his client, including how he is related to Cheng Weigao, whether Ching is a Canadian citizen and whether he has ever changed his name were referred to David Lunny, another of Ching’s lawyers.

“The Chinese authority was doing this anti-corruption campaign so somehow some old names popped up again,” said Wong. “We take the position that it is a different person … This thing was going on for the past 10 years so we are still at the stage of clarification as to what is going on with this.”

In a letter to The Province dated Feb., 17, Lunny wrote that the questions, which were sent via email, were “highly intrusive.”

In the letter, Lunny confirmed that Michael Ching also goes by the name Mo Yeung Ching.

“We are authorized to inform you that, in order to protect his (Ching’s) privacy, our client declines to respond to these questions,” the letter read. “This letter it to notify you of our client’s objection to the publication of any defamatory article or statements.”

Last Friday, Lunny confirmed his office was aware of the latest Chinese government’s anti-corruption notice and repatriation efforts.

“While wishing to maintain his privacy, our client denies all allegations of wrongdoing,” Lunny wrote in an email.

So who is Michael Ching?

On paper, Ching is the president, secretary and sole director of Mo Yeung International Enterprise Ltd., which was incorporated in 2000, records show. (The name Mo Yeung Ching is used in the directorship records).

He lives in a multi-million dollar home in Vancouver and has donated regularly to both the B.C. Liberal party and the Federal Liberal Party of Canada. In 2008, he was mentioned in a speech delivered before the House of Commons by Raymond Chan, then the Liberal MP for Richmond.

The company has developed “over 11-million square feet of real estate projects in Canada the United States and Asia,” according to its website. Locally, it is behind several large developments, including the International Trade Centre and River Rock Place, both located in Richmond. The company is also behind Collection 45, a “boutique building” in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

According to its website, the company is also associated with the Zendai Group, a Shanghai-based “private conglomerate” that specializes in asset management, real-estate development and micro-finance that manages “over $5-billion” in assets globally, according to its LinkedIn page. Another company listed as an associate company on the website is AuXin Resources, a mining-investment group with interests in the Yukon and Ontario.

Corporate records show that a Mo Yeung Ching was a director of AuXin Resources until August 2013, when a new director was named. Trading records listed on Auxin’s website indicate its stock started trading in 2010 for about 22 cents and it has not traded since March 2013, when shares were traded at just three cents. According to corporate records one of the company’s directors is Stanley Wong, a Vancouver certified public accountant.

The Province contacted Wong last Friday and asked him questions about Mo Yeung Ching. Wong said that he is now listed as director of Auxin, but said that “Mo Yeung Ching is still the president.” Wong said Auxin is a private company and he could not explain why it is not being traded now.

The Province asked Wong if Mo Yeung Ching is Michael Ching, the Vancouver and Richmond developer who has been involved in fundraising with former MP Raymond Chan for the federal Liberal party.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Wong said. “That’s possibly correct. So far what you said.”

The Province asked Wong if he is aware that Michael Ching is believed to be Muyang Cheng, the son of the former Hebei governor Cheng Weigao.

“Well, then I don’t know,” Wong said, with a chuckle. “That part I don’t know, yeah.”

Electoral finance records show that Ching and his company have over the years contributed thousands of dollars to both the Liberal Party of Canada and the B.C. Liberal Party. In 2008, Mo Yeung International Enterprise Ltd., donated $300 to the winning campaign of Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, financial records show.

A spokesman for the Federal Liberal Party would not comment on whether Ching is a member of the party, citing privacy considerations. But a well-placed Liberal Party source said unproven allegations about Ching have circulated within the party for years, but that they’ve “always been directly refuted by Michael and his lawyer.”

“Michael Ching as far as I know got quite involved around the time of the Trudeau leadership,” the federal Liberal Party source said. “He had supported Raymond Chan before that, but most of his support (of the LPC) was after 2012. From a Liberal perspective, this guy is seemingly quite connected across business and politics in Greater Vancouver.

Financial records of offshore tax haven companies leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists show that a Mo Yeung Ching is associated to an address in Hong Kong and is a director and shareholder of an “offshore entity” with links to a number of other offshore companies and clients.

The South China Morning Post reported in 2003 that the former governor Cheng Weigao was widely seen as a close associate of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin.

A commission found Weigao had taken advantage of his position to interfere in ‘government’s administration’ in arranging favours for his son and other parties. Cheng Weigao died in 2010.

The RCMP declined comment on this story and the Vancouver Police Department said they had no information to share. Efforts to contact Interpol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China were unsuccessful. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa referred all quires to the consulate in Vancouver.

China’s deputy consul general to Vancouver, Fan Xiaodong, said China and Canada have been working co-operatively on repatriating Chinese fugitives and those who are involved in serious corruption cases. He said the two countries share similar attitudes toward fighting crime, noting Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that Canada will not become a paradise for criminals.

Fan denied the two countries have reached any deals on how much each would share on the proceeds of crimes. Of Operation Skynet, he said the consulate general in Vancouver doesn’t know anything about the Muyang Cheng case.

China’s latest crackdown on corruption has already produced some sensational headlines. Last week, Qu Zhang Mingjie, the mother of Vancouver-based pop star Wanting Qu, was arrested in China on corruption charges. Wanting Qu is the girlfriend of Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson.

Suit against federal government seeks $1.75 million

Vancouver developer Mo Yeung Ching — who has denied to The Province that he is a similarly named corruption suspect wanted by China — has sued the federal government for sharing information on his case with Chinese police accused of torture.

In Federal Court documents filed in December 2012, Mo Yeung Ching claims $1.75 million in damages, alleging an abuse of process in Canada’s immigration process.

As The Province has reported, Ching denied through his lawyers that he is Muyang Cheng, the 45-year-old son of a former Chinese governor who was stripped of power and accused of corruption. Muyang Cheng is accused by China of stealing assets and transferring them abroad, and reportedly fled China and entered Canada in 2000.

Court documents stating the “facts” of Mo Yeung Ching’s claim say he was born in 1969 in China, and became a permanent resident in Canada in 1996. Ching and his wife have three children, including a girl born in Vancouver in 2000, documents say.

Ching applied for Canadian citizenship in 2001, but withdrew the application because he was “kept in the dark.”

Ching’s wife and two children were granted Canadian citizenship and Ching reapplied, but his application “languished and festered without being processed,” his claim states.

In 2001 Chinese authorities issued a warrant for Mo Yeung Ching’s arrest, his claim states, after “obtaining information by torture from two Chinese nationals.”

The two men were convicted of embezzlement in connection with alleged real estate deals with Mo Yeung Ching, and Ching was falsely accused in the case, his claim states.

The claim states that between 2001 and 2004 Chinese police liaised with the RCMP, and in 2004 a Chinese police unit wrote to the RCMP: “We would like to thank your office for providing the latest relevant information about the case of CHING Mo Yeung.”

The unit said it would provide the RCMP with new information on Ching, and said that “in the interim it would be grateful if your office would assist in preventing Ching Mo Yeung from acquiring Canadian nationality.”

The claim says that in immigration hearings in 2008, Canadian officials alleged Ching colluded with the two suspects convicted in China of embezzlement, and “the so-called confessions (of the Chinese suspects) were obtained by (Chinese police) torture.”

The claim cites expert testimony for Ching made by Vancouver Island lawyer Clive Ansley.

Ansley is an expert on the Chinese judicial system previously interviewed by The Province for other stories. On Wednesday Ansley told The Province he recalls the case of Mo Yeung Ching, but he could not comment.

The claim alleges a particular Canadian immigration official was in a “conflict of interest” and that an abuse of process occurred.

The claim mentions that Ching is represented by Lawrence Wong, “a well-known, competent and accomplished” Vancouver immigration and refugee lawyer.

As The Province has reported, regarding questions on Mo Yeung Ching and Muyang Cheng, Wong told The Province: “We take the position that it is a different person.”