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OTTAWA 鈥� A wealthy 91原创 businessman is heading to the Federal Court of Canada in June as part of his lengthy bid to avoid being sent to China to face corruption charges.
Mo Yeung (Michael) Ching, also known as Cheng Muyang, was named last week by Chinese state media as being among the country鈥檚 top 100 fugitives, a list that includes 25 others in Canada.
But Ching has alleged that the evidence against him was a product of torture, and he has also suggested the charges were influenced by domestic Chinese politics. He has not been tried or convicted of any crime.
Ching has a lot at stake, as he faces a maximum penalty of life in jail on the charge of 鈥渕isappropriation of public funds, embezzlement (and) transfer and concealment of illegally acquired goods,鈥� according to the 2001 arrest warrant obtained by The 91原创 Sun.
Ching, 45, arrived in B.C. in 2000 and is currently living with his wife and three children in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood.
Ching is the owner of Mo Yeung International Enterprises Ltd. and is on the board of directors of the Canada Asia 91原创 Business Association.
The private company is developing the proposed International Trade Centre, touted as 鈥淩ichmond鈥檚 next epicentre of business.鈥�
Ching has refused numerous requests for a formal interview since The Sun first contacted him in late 2013, but he did drop some hints in emails about his view of the validity of the allegations.
鈥淚n a power struggle, some members of the Chinese Communist Party would use its legal system to get rid of their political enemies,鈥� Ching, the son of a prominent Chinese official who was removed in a 2003 anti-corruption crackdown, said in one email exchange.
According to Interpol, the France-based international police cooperation agency, he is wanted on a variety of alleged offences involving misappropriation and theft.
But Ching has challenged those allegations, asserting that the two witnesses who testified against him in connection with business transactions in 1996-97 had been tortured.
Ottawa鈥檚 first bid to send him back to China failed when a one-person Immigration and Refugee Board panel declared him admissible to Canada in 2009.
The ruling gave considerable weight to the torture allegations.
But a 2011 decision by a one-person Immigration Appeal Division panel reversed that decision, determining that the evidence was sufficient to deem him inadmissible.
However, that decision has been held 鈥渋n abeyance鈥� in connection with a number of legal complications, including Ching鈥檚 legal challenge of the objectivity of the panelist who ruled against him.
In late November, a lawyer for Ching filed an application for a judicial review of a Nov. 4, 2014, decision by Gordon C. McRae, a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board.
The application seeks a review of McRae鈥檚 determination that Ching 鈥渋s not a (United Nations) Convention refugee nor in need of protection.鈥�
A one-day hearing has been scheduled for June 23 in Winnipeg.
However, if Ching loses that bid it is believed he still has legal avenues to avoid being removed.
The Sun attempted to contact Ching on Wednesday but was unsuccessful. David Matas, a prominent immigration lawyer based in Winnipeg, and 91原创 lawyer David Lunny both said they couldn鈥檛 comment on their client鈥檚 status.
Ching鈥檚 case has added prominence in China because he is the son of Cheng Weigao, who in 2003 became one of the most senior Communist Party officials to be booted from the party because of corruption allegations following a three-year investigation.
Cheng (his name is spelled differently from his son鈥檚 because Michael Ching uses the Cantonese spelling) was never charged before his 2010 death to cancer, a point Ching noted in one of his emails to The Sun.
鈥淢y late father was never charged let alone convicted of any offence.鈥�
Ching has largely kept a low profile in B.C., but has a friendship with former Liberal cabinet minister Raymond Chan.
Chan said in a brief interview that he wasn鈥檛 aware of the allegations against Ching in China.
Ching was also photographed at a reception in Richmond in January 2011 that featured then-leader Michael Ignatieff and a number of veteran Liberals, including 91原创-Quadra MP Joyce Murray.
Ching has contributed primarily to the Liberal Party of Canada, including $1,200 to Trudeau鈥檚 successful campaign to win the party鈥檚 leadership in 2013.
But he also gave $1,100 to the Conservative Party鈥檚 Abbotsford riding in 2011, and $400 to the Conservatives鈥� Richmond riding the following year.
鈥淚 believe in participating in the democratic process and regularly contribute to different political parties in the federal, provincial and municipal levels, including the Conservative Party, Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and others,鈥� Ching explained in an email.
The Chinese embassy would not comment on the case or on Ching鈥檚 status in Canada.
China has launched a new crackdown against corrupt officials and ex-officials domestically and abroad, including Canada. The initiative is rooted in initiatives taken after President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2013.
In his first speech Xi vowed to fight for 鈥渢he great renaissance of the Chinese nation,鈥� and that included cleaning up a Communist Party he believed was plagued with corruption.
鈥淧redecessors have used similarly strong language, but Mr Xi appears to be taking the problem far more seriously,鈥� The Economist magazine reported last month.
China鈥檚 release this week of the names of its top 100 fugitives, including Ching and 25 others in Canada, may have been more of a 鈥減ublic relations鈥� stunt given the difficulty the country has in bringing back alleged criminals to face the country鈥檚 harsh justice system, the University of Hong Kong鈥檚 Michael Davis told the South China Morning Post.
In 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Chinese president Hu Jintao announced a memorandum of understanding on combating crime, and in February of 2012, Harper and former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao announced plans to 鈥渟trengthen cooperation in combating transnational crime and repatriating fugitives.鈥�
The 2012 news release noted that negotiations would be launched on an agreement to repatriate proceeds of crime, though those talks are still ongoing.
It also noted Canada鈥檚 agreement to finally deport fugitive Lai Changxing in 2011, and cited China鈥檚 2012 prosecution of Ang Li for the murder of Amanda Zhao in Burnaby in 2002.
In the 2010-12 period, two of the most famous economic fugitives in Canada 鈥� Lai Cheong Sing and Gao Shan 鈥� returned to China after years of legal battles against the 91原创 government. Lai was deported and Gao voluntarily returned.
鈥淭hese were the landmark cases indicating some kind of progress鈥� in the repatriation of Chinese fugitives, said Vincent Yang, an international law professor at the University of Saint Joseph in Macau, China.
