An immigration consultant accused of defrauding millions of dollars from investors told a Chinese media outlet that he wanted to build 100 compost factories over the next decade.
B.C. Securities Commission ordered a Nov. 1 hearing into the scheme that it says Paul Oei perpetuated through the sale of shares in Cascade Renewable Carbon Corp. (CRC), Cascade Renewable Organic Fertilizer Corp. (CROF), and Organic Eco-Centre Corp. Oei allegedly raised $13.3 million from 64 investors, but diverted $6.9 million to his own accounts.
In the interview, produced by Ocean Star Media and published May 14, 2015, by ChinaLive America, Oei described the company’s plan to recycle organic waste from grass, leaves, and tree branches and food waste from supermarkets, restaurants and hotels into organic topsoil and fertilizer that he said could eliminate 93% of “the odour or poison gas.”
“There’s tons of it — even just inside Metro Vancouver there are more than 1 million tons a year,” said Oei, who was identified as the president and CEO of Organic Eco-Centre Corp.
“My mission of the company is to build approximately five factories across Canada in the next five years. After doing that, I want to bring this company IPO, go to the stock market and raise more money, so that hopefully we can build approximately 100 factories in another 10 years time.”
In the video, Oei said he had been in Canada since 1984 and talked at length about his charitable fundraising for various organizations, including Richmond Hospital Foundation and the B.C. Women’s Hospital. He was involved in the Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant organizing committee.
The interview came more than a year after a March 27, 2014 lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court by jilted Cascade investors Wei Chen and Junping Zhen against Oei, his wife Loretta Lai, the companies and lawyer Joe Peschisolido, who was elected as the Richmond Liberal MP last October. Chen and Zhen alleged they were victims of misrepresentation, fraud, breach of trust and breach of fiduciary duty.
The allegations have not been tested in court, but Chen and Zhen allege Oei told them that there was “no risk investing in the CROF Project which was largely supported by the B.C. government and qualified for the B.C. Provincial nominee program.” It also claimed that they were told by Oei that crude material for the CROF plan would be provided “by the B.C. government garbage recycling company” and the government would pay CROF $50 to $70 per tonne, “so [CROF] would be profitable without risk.” The court filing said the plaintiffs agreed to invest $1 million in the venture.
Peschisolido denied he acted improperly. His statement of defence said both he and his firm had “no knowledge of any such breach of trust.”
Court documents also show that BCSC demanded, on May 9, 2014, that Peschisolido hand over the trust ledger for Oei, Lai and their companies for 2010 to 2012, all drafts and cheques deposited in trust, cancelled cheques, transfer requests and any other documentation showing the disbursement of funds.
The BCSC’s Sept. 26-issued BCSC notice, from executive director Peter Brady, alleged that Oei solicited investors to invest in Cascade for its start-up costs. Shares were issued by two numbered companies in Cascade and Canadian Manu Immigration & Financial Services Inc., but “Oei used Canadian Manu’s bank accounts to receive most of the investors’ money.”
“Oei subsequently solicited the same investors to invest in OEC, purportedly so that they could save their Cascade investments by rolling them into OEC shares. He did not disclose to these investors that he had, in fact, given to Cascade less than half of the money he raised from investors. He succeeded in raising an additional $202,000 from 18 investors.”
Elections BC’s database shows Oei donated 19 times totalling $55,787.85 to the BC Liberals from November 2011 to November 2015. The biggest donation was $19,250 on Aug. 1, 2012.
CRC actually filed for bankruptcy on May 13, 2013, claiming $358,002 in assets and $9.9 million in liabilities. Unsecured creditors included CROF ($3.13 million) and Cacade Manu Immigration and Financial Services ($5.5 million).
