B.C. is seeking an explanation for hundreds of thousands in cash deposits into bank accounts of a Vancouver man arrested for murder last fall and his girlfriend.
The demands are part of the province’s application for a so-called unexplained wealth order filed in B.C. Supreme Court in its effort to have three homes owned by the pair in Vancouver and Abbotsford, valued at $7 million, and nearly $1.5 million in cash, forfeited as proceeds of crime.
The unexplained wealth orders were part of a package of new laws introduced in 2023 by the B.C. NDP government to combat money laundering and other financial crimes, which are just being tested now with the first applications in court.
The province alleges the incomes of Jiaxin Huang and Xiao Zhen Jean Li, which documents attached to the order describe as his girlfriend, were insufficient to buy and maintain two mortgaged properties in Vancouver and another in Abbotsford with no mortgage, and obtain the cash found last year by police in one of the homes on Victoria Drive. According to hundreds of pages of documents filed in supporting affidavits, the province alleges the homes over the years contained illicit cannabis grow operations.
Huang and Li have not responded to the application for the unexplained wealth order filed Sept. 9, but earlier denied all the allegations in the civil forfeiture case.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
Affidavits filed in B.C. Supreme Court cite “suspicious transaction” reports from Canada’s financial intelligence gathering agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, more commonly known as Fintrac.
Those reports highlight at least 180 deposits of cash totalling more than $744,000 between February 2017 and September 2023 into accounts held by Huang and Li.
The cash was part of nearly $2 million, that included cheques, deposited at accounts at Vancity Savings Credit Union, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, and the Royal Bank of Canada.
The Fintrac reports also show during a similar period that deposits of more than $211,000 were made in 79 payments to 14 different utility accounts, including B.C. Hydro and Fortis.
Records filed in court by the civil forfeiture office show that Huang listed his occupation as a “crop farmer” at a construction company and also as “self-employed” as a construction framer. Records show Li’s occupation was listed as cashier/sales clerk and labourer/outside worker at a grocery market.
In a Canada Child Benefit and B.C. Family Benefit notice issued to Li in January 2023, her 2021 family income is listed as $479.
In support of the unexplained wealth order application, an affidavit filed by B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture Jerad Larson cites excessive or atypical utility payments, rapid movement of funds in and out of accounts on the same day or within a short period of time, unknown sources of cash deposits, repeated cash deposits structured to avoid the automatic $10,000 FINTRAC reporting requirement, and transactional activity that was inconsistent with the defendants’ apparent financial standing.
“There is a serious question to be tried as to whether the sources of the defendants’ lawfully obtained income, if any, is sufficient for the purpose of enabling the defendants, or one of them, to acquire, improve, and/or maintain the real properties and money,” says Larson.
The forfeiture suits list the alleged unlawful activities as possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, the production of illegal cannabis, the use of a firearm to commit a crime, murder, attempted murder, possession of the proceeds of crime, money laundering, and failure to declare taxable income.
In earlier court responses to the civil forfeiture claim, both Huang and Li say the homes were not purchased or maintained from illicit cannabis sales. Li said the homes she has an interest in were maintained with salaries, gifts, inheritance and loans. She said the Victoria Drive property was the family home with her children.
Both also said cannabis was not sold for profit, cannabis was not in excess of permits, not grown for the purpose of trafficking, and they did not derive any profit from cannabis sales.
The civil forfeiture office is seeking an order for Huang and Li to provide all records of employment and tax returns since 2003. Also on the province’s document list is all invoices, receipts and other documents for maintenance, upkeep, renovations, replacements, upgrades or electrical work on the properties.
The civil forfeiture case relates to a shooting incident on Sept. 10 last year at East 28th Avenue near Victoria Drive. Two people were shot, one of whom later died.
The next month, Huang was arrested for murder and attempted murder, according to the forfeiture claim. According to a search of B.C. court files online, there are no criminal charges filed against Huang related to the incident.
During their investigation, Vancouver police found $1.459 million in cash in Canadian currency and $9,750 in cash in U.S. bills at a house at 4372 Victoria Dr. owned by Li, according to the forfeiture suit.
At that house, police also found a dismantled cannabis grow operation and 75 kilograms of bagged cannabis, four spent shell casings, and a modified electrical system. Vancouver police also found a cannabis grow-op at 27658 Quinton Ave. in Abbotsford owned by Huang that police allege “exceeded permits” and produced cannabis “for the purposes of trafficking.” Another $21,660 in cash was found at an East 37th Avenue house in Vancouver.
The pair also jointly own a house at 1890 41st Ave., which the province also wants forfeited.
Unexplained wealth orders were among more than 100 recommendations from the Cullen Inquiry into money laundering delivered in 2022 and another B.C. government-commissioned report into money laundering in real estate completed in 2019.
The unexplained wealth orders must be applied for in each case through the courts. If approved by a judge, the orders put a reverse onus on a person to explain where money came from to buy their assets in cases where there is a suspicion of criminal activity or corruption.
There are critics of unexplained wealth orders, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has argued that these type of measures undermine constitutional rights, have not been adequately tested, and would be expensive to implement.
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