Burnaby house sought in civil forfeiture allegedly linked to CRA scam
Credit to Author: Gordon Hoekstra| Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2019 01:04:14 +0000
The province is suing to have a $1.9-million Burnaby house forfeited, alleging the property is linked to a Canada Revenue Agency fraud scheme.
In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Nov. 12, the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office accuses Haoran Xue, also known as Charlie Xue, of being involved in a scheme to defraud unnamed people of money where fraudsters pose as Canada Revenue Agency employees, RCMP officers, software-company employees or bank investigators.
According to the civil-forfeiture offices’s claim, unsuspecting individuals were contacted and told to send money in cash or gift cards to retail mailboxes in B.C. and Ontario. According to court records, an RCMP investigation found that Xue, in his mid-20s, who at times was using fraudulent identification, set up various mailboxes in the Metro Vancouver area and was retrieving money from them.
The Mounties obtained Xue’s banking records and learned that since January 2019 $1 million has been transferred into and out of his bank accounts.
The Burnaby home, at 7318 Fourth St., is listed in the name of Zenggang Xue, Haoran’s father, who is believed to live in China. The suit claims that Haoran is the beneficial or true owner, and his dad is a nominee owner.
The civil-forfeiture office’s suit claims the Burnaby house has been used to engage in unlawful activities and used to launder money. Xue has also been accused of mail fraud, forgery, identity theft and failure to declare taxable income.
The allegations have not been proven in court and no response has been filed by Xue.
The threshold for proving a civil claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a balance of probabilities as opposed to beyond a reasonable doubt.
The civil-forfeiture suit outlines a number of financial transactions allegedly linked to the Burnaby home.
A search by police of the Burnaby property last July turned up a number of documents, including for a $170,000 private loan secured against the property, photo copies of three bank drafts totalling $256,418.21, and a letter outlining that a $253,725.77 Amber Mortgage would be paid.
Police also found several fraudulent driver’s licences and a mortgage letter for the property from CIBC, altered to be addressed to an individual named on one of the fraudulent driver’s licences. B.C. Land Title records show the CIBC mortgage, registered on Oct. 21, 2015, was for $975,000. The mortgage had no payment schedule and was “on demand” at prime plus six per cent.
According to the civil-forfeiture claim, the RCMP arrested Xue last July for uttering a forged document and fraud. As of Tuesday, there were no charges listed for Xue on the B.C. Courts online system for forgery or fraud.
According to the civil-forfeiture suit, a police search of Xue turned up a fraudulent driver’s licence and a cellphone. An examination of the cellphone showed text messages containing victims’ names, the amount of money the victims were to send and to whom, and addresses of the mailboxes where money was to be sent.
The cellphone also showed a video in which Xue opens a parcel containing cash stored within a book.