Richmond property lawsuit has apparent link to another name on Chinese 'Sky Net' wanted list

 

 

BY SAM COOPER, THE PROVINCE APRIL 30, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

Li Wenge is a Sky Net suspect who has been named in a B.C. Supreme Court civil case.

An unusual court case filed by a Chinese businesswoman seeking to freeze the sale of a Richmond property appears to involve an alleged financial fugitive wanted by China in Operation Sky Net.

As The Province has reported, 26 fugitives believed to be in Canada have been fingered by China in Sky Net, a new global information campaign aimed at smoking corruption suspects out of hiding.

One of the 26 suspects is Li Wenge, a 46-year-old tax collection official in China’s Kun Ming City. Sky Net information from China Interpol says Li Wenge was charged with “contract fraud” by the Kun Ming Public Security Bureau.

B.C. Supreme Court filings say that in May 2014 Jian Li Song, a businesswoman living in Kun Ming City, sued Li Wenge and another defendant from Kun Ming for $2.4 million for allegedly refusing to repay a loan that was used to buy property on Barnard Drive in Richmond.

The claim says Jian Li Song must be repaid with interest or given ownership of the Richmond property.

The Province contacted the lawyer named for Li Wenge in court filings, Jim Henshall. The lawyer said he recalled the 2014 case involving a Kun Ming City tax collector, but said he was completely unaware that Li Wenge recently had been accused of “contract fraud” and listed among 100 top fugitives wanted by China in Sky Net.

“I can’t really (comment on case status) for confidentiality reasons,” Henshall said Thursday, “and I can’t even say that I know (what occurred in the case).”

The Province could not contact the plaintiff or defendants.

A June 14, 2014 response to the claim states that Li Wenge and co-defendant Zi Yuan Yang have “significant assets” in Kun Ming City, and the claimed loan was invested in Kun Ming City real estate.

The defendants agreed to a loan with the plaintiff in Kun Ming, but “not on the terms claimed,” their response says.

It says that Chinese courts should deal with the contract dispute, and the B.C. Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction because the opponents are all from Kun Ming City, where the deal was made.

Court filings say the plaintiff has no claim on Li Wenge’s Richmond property, and has falsely filed a notice of pending litigation against the Barnard Drive residence to “obtain leverage” over the defendants, and hinder them from selling the property.

Land title documents show that on June 30, 2014, Li Wenge bought a townhouse in central Richmond for $574,000. Records show that Li Wenge sold the Barnard Drive property named in the court case on Nov. 28, 2014, for $1.38 million. China Interpol filed a Red Notice alleging “contract fraud” against Li Wenge on Nov. 26, 2014, according to Sky Net information.

As The Province has reported, a party source says federal Liberal leaders in Ottawa are conducting an internal review of the party’s connections to Vancouver developer Mo Yeung Ching, a party donor who is accused of corruption by Interpol China, according to a 2012 lawsuit filed by Ching against Canadian immigration officials.

The lawsuit seeks $1.75 million in damages, and accuses Canadian authorities of sharing information with Chinese police who allegedly obtained evidence for embezzlement charges against Ching by torturing two of his alleged business associates.

Legal documents say Ching, who accuses Canada of blocking his immigration application, is being represented by Winnipeg lawyer David Matas in a judicial review of his case.

Matas is a well-known critic of the Chinese judicial system who also represented Lai Changxing, the alleged mastermind of a billion-dollar smuggling operation in China, who was returned to Beijing in 2011 after a lengthy legal battle in Canada’s refugee determination system.