The director of B.C.’s Civil Forfeiture Office has launched a bid to seize millions of dollars in cash and other assets scooped up in the RCMP’s E-Pirate investigation of large-scale money laundering through B.C. casinos by alleged ringleader Paul King Jin.
In a notice of civil claim filed on March 15, the director targets Jin and several family members including his wife, Xiaoqi Wei; his niece, Yuanyuan Jia; his father, Gong Ping Jia; his mother, Hua Wan; and Ming Kang Ye, an alleged “nominee owner” for Jin on a Porsche 911.
Jin has past convictions for aggravated assault, sexual assault and sexual exploitation, according to the claim, and he and his associates were allegedly related to more than $23.5 million in casino transactions between June 2012 and June 2015 involving “cash deliveries to high-stakes gamblers at casinos in the Lower Mainland.”
During the police investigation, the claim says, Jin was observed travelling between a condo on Jones Road, alleged underground bank Silver International and a massage parlour he owned, as well as an alleged illegal gambling house with “suitcases, boxes and bags containing large amounts of cash.”
Search warrants executed in October 2015 netted millions in cash, casino chips, iPhones, jewelry and other items including high-end liquor and purported “promissory notes,” which Jin allegedly used to secure underground debts under the guise of loans for home renovations. Police also seized $25,000 in casino chips from the River Rock Casino, $10,000 in chips from the Edgewater Casino and a document entitled Baccarat Business Plan for Richmond Private Clubhouse.
“Several of the promissory note debtors lodged complaints with police that Mr. Jin and/or his associates were threatening physical violence or had perpetrated physical violence in order to collect on the promissory notes,” the claim states.
In February 2013, the claim alleges, a male working for Jin attempted to kidnap the child of one of the debtors, but the man was arrested by the Vancouver Police Department that day, the claim states.
Furthermore, the director alleges that Jin made more than $32 million in profits from his gaming houses between June and October 2015 alone.
Moreover, Jin and his wife reported an average combined income over a five-year period of just under $30,000 to the Canada Revenue Agency.
The director seeks forfeiture of 210-8120 Jones Road in Richmond, $4,864,509 in Canadian currency and a Porsche 911, as well as casino chips, various electronics and other property.
Jin and the other defendants had not filed a response by press time and the director’s allegations and claims to the property have not been tested in court.
