Clark and B.C. Liberals got donations in funds with money from defrauded Chinese investors, hearing told
what a happy bunch
A B.C. Securities Commission panel has heard that then-premier Christy Clark and her B.C. Liberals received $37,888 in political donations that came from investor funds for Cascade, the failed recycling scheme of prominent party supporter Paul Oei.
Postmedia has reported previously on the case of Oei, who is accused of bilking investors of $6.9 million in an immigration-investment scam surrounding Cascade, a proposed Port Coquitlam recycling plant. Among the allegations are that he wooed Chinese investors with pictures of Clark and claimed that she had promoted the plant on a trade mission to China.
The Securities Commission panel has previously heard that of $13.3 million raised for the project, over half went into Oei’s personal bank accounts, his immigration business (Canadian Manu), charity donations and beauty pageants, and for renting luxury cars, including a Bentley.
Listen to Sam Cooper detail the story of Paul Oei and his alleged dealings in the B.C.
In testimony from the final witness in the case, Clark and her party were connected to Cascade investor funds.
Canadian Manu accountant Ellen Sun was questioned about Cascade’s expense records and money flows.
Oei’s lawyer, Teresa Tomchak, pointed to accounting of a Dec. 1, 2011, transaction for $480, which was recorded in Sun’s books with the memo line, for “Premier Christy Clarke (sic) dinner to VIP.” Tomchak said there was also another cheque recorded as a donation to the B.C. Liberals, with the same memo line.
“And how do you know that this relates to Cascade?” Tomchak asked Sun, according to hearing transcripts.
“Mr. Oei told me that,” she replied.
In cross-examination, Commission lawyer Nicholas Isaac questioned Sun about records that showed Cascade investor funds paid for $37,888 in political donations for the B.C. Liberal party.
“So these were all receipts for individual donations by Mr. Oei to the Liberal party, right?” Sun was asked.
“Correct … he told me it was intended for Cascade.”
“Did he tell you what that meant, intended for Cascade?” Isaac asked.
“Well, I know that he, you know, he knows people, in the Liberal party, so I guess it’s party’s promotions,” Sun said. “He did tell me, he mentioned that it is for Cascade, for promotion.”
Oei told investors they could immigrate to B.C. through a government program if they invested in Cascade, the panel had previously heard.
“(Oei) said this project received strong support from the provincial government, and he showed us a lot of photos with the lady premier,” Chinese investor Wei Chen told the hearing. “He said the B.C. government would use this project to go to China to attract immigrants.”
The B.C. Liberal party did not return requests for Clark or others to comment on the latest donation allegations.
B.C. Election records show that from November 2011 to November 2015, Paul Oei donated $55,787 to the B.C. Liberals. His wife, Loretta Lai, donated $13,565 to the party from April 2012 to May 2016. Canadian Manu Immigration and Financial Services Inc. and Organic Eco-Centre Corp., both named in the Security Commission fraud allegations, donated $1,080 to the B.C. Liberals from 2014 to 2015. Oei and Lai have also donated $8,477 to the federal Liberal party since 2014. Also, through Organic Eco-Centre Corp., Oei sponsored a July 2015 Richmond Chamber of Commerce lunch featuring federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.
One Cascade investor, a “Ms. U Po Chu” of Hong Kong, provided almost $7 million to Oei “in addition to the Cascade investment” the panel heard.
Sun said that her accounting showed Cascade’s investor repayments for “U Po Chu” were made in the names of other people, at the request of U Po Chu, and the payments were made to Las Vegas casinos.
“These were money that was paid to Las Vegas,” Sun said. “It was upon U Po Chu’s request, because she goes down to Las Vegas quite often, and she wanted the money to go back to Hong Kong. So, she asked Mr. Oei to transfer the money and paid it to the Las Vegas.”
Records showed that in total for U Po Chu, there was $288,291 in payments made to the casinos “the Wynn, the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM International,” including payments made to cage depositories, Isaac told Sun.
“Does that, as an accountant, when you’re going through this, does it raise any red flags for you to, where you see hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid, personal payments to Las Vegas casinos purportedly to repay investors but not recorded anywhere in a general ledger or even in an expense report,” Isaac asked.
“Well, I do think about it, but I just left it in Mr. Oei’s hands,” Sun answered.
The panel has heard that Oei instilled confidence in the investors — many of whom did not speak English or understand Canadian investment laws — by having them transfer funds into the legal trust of Peschisolido & Company.
The firm was directed by Richmond federal Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido at the time.
Sun, the Canadian Manu accountant, testified about transactions between Oei and the legal trust of Peschisolido and Co., in relation to Cascade investors.
In one instance related to Cascade funds that was recorded under legal fees by Sun, Peschisolido & Company received a bank draft of $110,000 from Oei, and Oei received $110,000 from Canadian Manu in return.
“My question was I was trying to understand the connection between the bank draft to Peschisolido & Company in the amount of $110,000, and the bank draft from the Canadian Manu account to Mr. Oei for $110,000 on that same day,” Oei’s lawyer Tomchak asked Sun, in the hearing.
“We issued the bank draft on that day, and at the same time reimbursed back to Mr. Oei,” Sun answered.
“And what was Canadian Manu reimbursing Mr. Oei for?”
“For the charges to Peschisolido,” Sun said.
In another instance, Sun acknowledged that records showed a payment of $100,000 from the trust fund of Peschisolido & Company as going to the company Cascade. But actually, a cashed cheque showed that the payment went to Oei’s company, Canadian Manu.
Isaac, the Commission lawyer, questioned some of Sun’s records that showed Oei repaid investors through payments to Peschisolido and Co.
“It does appear as though some monies were paid to Mr. Peschisolido that may be these amounts, but I wasn’t able to find any evidence of any actual money flowing to (one investor Sasan Katal); and you haven’t seen any, have you?” Isaac asked.
“No,” Sun answered.
The panel is awaiting final oral and written submissions from Oei’s lawyer and the Commission’s lawyers before a decision is rendered. Oei denies wrongdoing, and none of the allegations has been proven.
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