Wynn Las Vegas casino sues B.C. fraudster who scammed Chinese immigrants
Credit to Author: Gordon Hoekstra| Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 22:17:10 +0000
Wynn Las Vegas LLC is suing a high-profile B.C. businessman who already faces large financial penalties and other lawsuits in the province.
The company, which operates a luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas, won a judgment this year against Paul Se Hui Oei in Nevada to pay back a loan and interest of 18 per cent per year until the loan is paid. The loan and growing interest payments total nearly $100,000 Cdn.
Wynn has filed in B.C. Supreme Court to have the judgment applied in B.C. where Oei lives. In its filings in B.C. Supreme Court, Wynn argued it “has a valid judgment against (Oei) issued by a foreign court.”
Oei hasn’t responded in court to the Wynn suit filed at the end of the summer.
Oei already owes more than $5 million in penalties and also has an order to pay back $3.1 million in fraudulent gains, following a ruling by a B.C. Securities Commission tribunal in 2018.
On Thursday, contacted by Postmedia News through email, Oei said he had used the loan money from Wynn to pay lawyers in his fight against the securities commission’s allegations.
He didn’t say whether he would respond to Wynn’s civil suit.
He added he had no lawyer and was self-represented. His legal fights include a foreclosure on a Chilliwack home.
He said at this “depressed time” he had “no job and no more money.”
In the securities commission case, Oei was accused of bilking investors out of millions in an immigration-investment scam surrounding Cascade, a proposed Port Coquitlam recycling plant. Some of the funds went into Oei’s personal bank accounts, his immigration business Canadian Manu and for renting luxury cars, including a Bentley, according to the securities case.
The securities commission panel heard that Oei impressed investors by “rubbing elbows” with politicians, and that then-B.C. Premier Christy Clark and her B.C. Liberals received $37,888 in political donations that came directly from investor funds for Cascade. The B.C. Liberals said they would return the donations to Elections B.C.
The panel heard that Oei instilled confidence in the investors — many of whom didn’t speak English — by having them transfer funds into the legal trust of law firm Peschisolido & Company. Joe Peschisolido, who was an MP for the federal Liberal party in Steveston-Richmond East, denied any wrongdoing.
Peschisolido lost the Oct. 21 federal election to a Conservative candidate.
-With files from Postmedia