A Chinese bank is suing to freeze and recover the Metro Vancouver property assets of a Chinese citizen who allegedly “fled China” with an unpaid $10-million dollar loan.
A petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court by China Citic Bank alleges that when Shibiao Yan and his family applied for a loan in June 2014, they lied to the bank about managing a business and owning assets in China.
The suit alleges that Yan and his wife were living in Vancouver and buying B.C. homes without disclosing the information to Citic. Citic’s suit says that the bank located four B.C. homes worth $7.2 million.
The allegations have not been proven in court and no statement of defence has been filed.
Vancouver anti-money laundering lawyer Christine Duhaime says she acted for Citic on the case and helped investigators locate the man and some of his B.C. assets.
Duhaime says that banks in China have discovered in recent years that many citizens who own or claim to own assets in China have fled to countries including Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, leaving vast numbers of unpaid loans behind. Duhaime told Postmedia that she understands this is the first case of a Chinese bank using civil law to freeze real estate assets of a Chinese citizen in B.C. in an effort to recover and “repatriate” unpaid loans.
Duhaime said it is not clear if investigators discovered all of Yan’s alleged assets in B.C.
Citic’s suit says that the bank took legal action after discovering in April 2015 that “Yan had fled China and was living in the Vancouver area.”
