REAL SCOOP: Govt. says couple ran bawdy houses for years
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2019 07:13:15 +0000
Here’s my story:
For years, Xiao Ai Rong and her husband Kwei Chiu Chan have run bawdy houses and illicit drug labs out of rental properties in Vancouver, according to the B.C. government.
Rong was convicted of assault and is on 21 months probation. Her husband is serving a three-year sentence after being convicted last year of producing methamphetamine in a lab that caught fire in 2014.
Now Rong is facing two separate lawsuits brought by the director of civil forfeiture, who is alleging a series of crimes by Rong and Chan dating back 13 years.
“The defendants have engaged in production and trafficking of controlled substances and the operation of bawdy houses at various locations in Vancouver since at least 2006,” the director claimed in both lawsuits.
The most recent lawsuit was filed Oct. 24 against Rong, alleging $1,235 seized from her earlier this year by Vancouver police should be forfeited to the government.
The suit claims Rong violated her probation conditions in the assault case when “she attended the Parq Casino and played baccarat” on May 30 in violation of one of her court-ordered conditions to stay away from any place where gambling occurs.
An earlier civil forfeiture suit filed in April 2018 against both Rong and Chan is seeking forfeiture of their Vancouver home at 6812 Radisson Street, assessed at more than $1.1 million.
That lawsuit claims the 2014 house purchase was made with “the proceeds of unlawful activity” including drug trafficking, keeping a bawdy house, money laundering and failing to declare taxable income.
“The defendants did not have and do not have sufficient income to have acquired the money or to have acquired and maintained the real property,” the director said.
The statement of claim lays out an astonishing list of alleged criminal activity.
In 2006, Vancouver police executed search warrants at two addresses “where bawdy houses were located.”
“Mr. Chan later claimed a dog that had been seized” from one of the houses “and advised that he resided at that address.”
In 2008 and 2009, Vancouver police executed more search warrants and located more bawdy houses alleged to be linked to the couple.
“On numerous occasions, an Asian male driving a vehicle registered to Ms. Rong escorted male customers to the suites” located on Fraser Street,” the suit said.
Police found more bawdy houses on Knight and Crowley streets after locating “advertisements on the internet which used the same phone number” as some of the earlier houses.
In 2010, police found more ads that turned up more bawdy houses, including one at 2988 East 49th Ave., the statement of claim alleged.
“On Feb. 23, 2010, an anonymous 911 call reported that a robbery had occurred at that address. VPD attended and located a bawdy house containing four workers and one customer. The male customer advised that he had spoken to ‘Chiu’ to arrange his date.”
Another bawdy house was found in an East Hastings suite in October 2010.
“CBSA officers attended and located two female foreign nationals who had overstayed in Canada. Mr. Chan was the renter of the suite,” the director said.
On July 9, 2014, Vancouver firefighters were called to a laneway house at 1650 East 49th Ave.
“Mr. Chan was the renter of the laneway house as well as the west basement suite of the main residence. While extinguishing the fire, Vancouver Fire located a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory inside the laneway house.”
“A female was located in the west suite and advised that she worked in the sex trade and Mr. Chan was her boss.”
In September 2017, Vancouver police “investigated an assault and robbery of a female sex trade worker by the defendants. The defendants were also the female’s employers,” the suit said.
When police searched the Radisson house, they found score sheets listing various females’ names and prices, copies of advertisements for female sex trade workers, passports for Chinese females, counterfeit cash, a jacket worn by Ms. Rong during the September assault that bore a blood stain, the director claimed.
Rong said in her statement of defence filed in the 2018 case that she purchased the Champlain Heights house with money she received from the estate of her first husband in China.
“The property at 6812 Radisson was not purchased with proceeds of crime. It was purchased with legitimate money, in part from the proceeds of her previous matrimonial home, business income from the sale of her restaurant in China, and other savings,” the response said. “The real property was not and is not an instrument of unlawful activity. It is a family home where the defendant lived with her husband and children.”
No one was answering at the house on Thursday when Postmedia attempted to interview Rong.
Her lawyer Chris Johnson told Postmedia that “all the prostitution-related charges were dropped” against his client.
“In my view, it’s a weak civil forfeiture claim as a result.”