Trial begins for Sask. woman accused of selling bear parts

Lianhua Chi didn’t have the right to bear arms — or bladders and paws, for that matter — and had no right to sell them, the Crown contends in the case against a Saskatoon woman facing seven charges of animal trafficking.

Chi, 55, who also uses the first name Lina, appeared with a Mandarin interpreter on Wednesday for the first day of her trial in Saskatoon provincial court.

Chi is accused of illegally selling black bear parts between December 2016 and August 2017 following an undercover investigation by conservation officers.

The identities of the three officers involved are protected under a publication ban.

Court heard the investigation initially started May 4, 2016, in Sandy Bay, a village 72 kilometres north of Pelican Narrows.

A conservation officer received a tip about bear carcasses found in the village’s dump. The animals had been shot and their entrails removed.

The officer was also given the names of the people involved and was told that a local business, Chung’s place — a combined store and restaurant — was receiving bear gall bladders from the group.

Sandy Bay RCMP supplied information that corroborated an allegation that Marcel Sewap was shooting the bears and selling parts to Chung’s Place, court heard.

Posing as bear hunting outfitters looking for used cooking oil for bait, officers spoke with the owner, Li Gen Han (Kevin) and his wife Lianshun Li (Stella) on a few occasions. Eventually, Han approached them about buying gall bladders.

Officers sold bladders to the pair over the course of a few months. They and Sewal were eventually charged under the Wildlife Act and fined thousands of dollars. One of Chi’s family members in Ontario was eventually charged as well.

During the investigation, Han connected officers with his aunt Lina — Chi, who previously owned the restaurant and at the time of the investigation operated Jeju Korean BBQ Restaurant in Saskatoon,

court heard.

Officers originally approached Chi about obtaining cooking oil, but during their first meeting she introduced the idea of buying the bladders from them as well.

Starting in December 2016, officers met with Chi at her restaurant eight times, sometimes selling bladders, paws and whole arms to be used by Chi and distributed to her friends and family members.

Over time, the number of parts and people interested in ordering them expanded.

The defence in the case appears to be preparing an argument that parts of the investigation constituted entrapment or abuse of process.

By Dec. 21, 2016, the undercover officers had confirmation that they were the group’s only supplier of bear parts, defence lawyer Jacob Watters noted in court. He questioned why they continued to sell bear parts to Chi for so long after that.

“So four months previous to this, you know you were her only supplier of bear parts, so why were you there all the way in April 2017 still selling her bear parts?” he asked during cross-examination.

The case is due back in court on Dec. 2 to wrap up testimony from the final Crown witness.

You know you were her only supplier of bear parts, so why were you there all the way in April 2017 still selling her bear parts?