A B.C. man says the owner of two Lower Mainland stores threatened to put a curse on him using the souls of dead baby ghosts in his possession or control if he did not pay $90,000 to invest in one of the businesses.
The unusual lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court by Jia Liang Hu says that Han Xiao Xiao, also known as Steven Xiao, requested that Hu provide the funds in three installments earlier this year.
Hu says he paid $50,000 in mid-May, $20,000 in mid-June and another $20,000 on Sept. 29 for the stated purpose of purchasing a 35-per-cent interest in Fan Yin Ge in Richmond鈥檚 Parker Place Mall.
鈥淭he installment of mid-May 2014 was provided under an implied threat of having the defendant place a curse upon the plaintiff, using the souls of the dead baby ghosts in his possession or control,鈥� says the court document.
鈥淭he June 2014 and September 2014 installments were provided to the defendant under the express threat of the defendant using the souls of the baby ghosts in his possession or control of the defendant to curse the plaintiff if he did not provide the funds.鈥�
The writ says that the businesses sell amulets, relics and imitation relics that they claim are based on the Buddhist religion or based upon a form of ancestor worship practised in China, with many of the amulets purportedly originating in Thailand and having been blessed by senior Buddhist monks.
The stores claim that the relics and imitation amulets contain finger nail clippings, hair or other relics from dead babies and, according to the store owner, also contain ghosts from the dead babies鈥� souls, says the lawsuit.
鈥淗e was fooled not once, not twice, but three times,鈥� Mark Thompson, Hu鈥檚 lawyer, said of his client.
Thompson said Xiao is seen as something of a guru by some customers of the store and met his client while Hu worked as a cook at Burnaby鈥檚 Crystal Mall, where the second store, Buddha Lounge, is located.
He said he can鈥檛 imagine that curses of the sort allegedly threatened by Xiao would be very common even in China.
Amulets are small objects believed to protect the wearer against evil.
Hu claims that a condition of the $90,000 he paid to Xiao was that he would be provided an accounting of monies spent as well as a 35-per-cent share of any profits in the running of Fan Yin Ge.
But he says that Xiao has failed to account for the funds and has instead used the money to maintain, preserve or improve the property or to help pay off a mortgage.
Hu, who is demanding that the $90,000 he invested be returned to him, says that he also paid $34,000 for 11 amulets, which he says are worthless.
May Ling Wong, a former employee at Buddha Lounge, claims in a separate lawsuit that she invested $39,000 in the business and that the funds have not been properly accounted for.
She also claims that she was not paid for 120 hours she worked in May and that she is owed another $2,792 for wages paid below minimum wage.
Thompson said there are a number of other unhappy customers of the stores, including several who allege that they have also been threatened with curses.
Reached by phone at his Richmond store, Xiao said he did not speak English, only Mandarin. Later, a woman who did not identify herself apart from saying she was calling on Xiao鈥檚 behalf said it was not the appropriate time to answer questions.
鈥淢r. Xiao is not in a position to talk to you right now. But he is not here right now. I will talk to him that you called him for this purpose and let him decide what to do.鈥�
The lawsuits contain allegations that have not been proven in court.
