Alleged fraudster donated to Liberals, records show
A self-proclaimed immigration consultant accused of defrauding Chinese immigrant investors has donated about $67,000 to the B.C. Liberals.
On Monday, the B.C. Securities Commission accused Paul Oei of defrauding Chinese immigrant investors of $6.9 million.
Oei made the political donations along with his wife Loretta Lai and two companies, which were also cited by the commission.
The couple has also donated $8,477 to the federal Liberal party since 2014.
The couple — who married in 2012 and celebrated at a wedding banquet attended by B.C. Liberal fundraisers — frequently attend events for B.C. Liberal politicians, fundraisers and donors in Richmond.
Information about the couple’s ties to B.C. Liberal fundraising events, including one attended by Premier Christy Clark, were confirmed through election donations records, photos and accounts of events posted online by politicians and donors, and interviews with a politician present at many of the events in Richmond.
In a brief emailed response to a number of questions on the B.C. Securities Commission allegations, the political donations and circle of fundraisers surrounding Oei and Lai, B.C. Liberal Party official Jillian Stead wrote: “If these allegations were proven true, we would return the funds — or forfeit to Elections B.C.”
In a notice of hearing posted on Monday, the commission alleged that from 2009 to 2012, Oei used a number of companies to “perpetrate a fraudulent scheme” involving 64 investments for a proposed Abbotsford recycling plant that raised a total of $13.3 million. But, the commission alleges, Oei paid only $6.4 million to the project company, Cascade Renewables, and used $6.9 million for personal spending on luxury car rentals, charity donations, deposits to his personal bank account, credit card payments and expenses for Canadian Manu Immigration and Financial Services Inc., an immigration and investment company.
In an interview Tuesday, Securities Commission spokeswoman Alison Walker said the agency can’t comment on whether the source of B.C. Liberal political donations made by Oei and Lai will be raised when the Oei case goes to a hearing.
The fraud allegations have not been proven, the commission notice said. Also, in a response to a separate, but related, lawsuit filed by two people who allege they lost money, Oei and Lai said they have not been “unjustly enriched,” in the deal and they “deny any conspiracy to defraud the plaintiffs.”
Civil court filings, from investors who allege they lost money, claim Oei and Lai told them significant investments in Cascade projects would qualify Chinese citizens for resident status in Canada through the provincial nominee program.
In one response, Oei and Lai deny they communicated “that the B.C. government would necessarily support (Cascade).”
In a separate lawsuit, a Chinese man claimed he was defrauded in a Cascade investment scheme and that he was led to believe by Oei and Lai that they were well-known in B.C.’s Chinese community and “had connections with high-level officials in the government of British Columbia.”
In a response, Oei and Lai denied any wrongdoing.
Postmedia has repeatedly asked Oei and Lai to respond to the allegations in civil court filings and allegations from the B.C. Security Commission through their lawyer and through Oei’s company, Canadian Manu. In her Facebook profile, Lai describes herself as a “director at Canadian Manu Investment Group.”
The couple has not responded.
B.C. Election records show that from November 2011 to November 2015, Paul Oei donated $55,787 to the B.C. Liberals. Loretta Lai donated $10,565 to the party from April 2012 to August 2014. Canadian Manu Immigration and Financial Services Inc. and Organic Eco-Centre Corp., both named in the B.C. Security Commission fraud allegations, donated $1,080 to the B.C. Liberals from 2014 to 2015.
At one fundraising event at Richmond’s Continental Seafood Restaurant, MLA John Yap posed for photos with Oei and Lai and a number of party donors and politicians.
He thanked party fundraiser and donor Cindy Chan for chairing the dinner, and fellow B.C. Liberal MLAs including Suzanne Anton, Linda Reid, Jane Thornthwaite and Mary Polak, for attending an event of “almost 500 friends and supporters.”
“What a tremendous annual dinner in support of our free enterprise government,” Yap wrote in a Facebook post.
Another 2015 fundraiser event photo posted online shows Yap and Premier Christy Clark posing with Oei, Lai and B.C. Liberal donors Cindy and Pius Chan, among others.
Clark could not comment on fundraiser and donor questions for this story, her office told Postmedia on Tuesday.
At yet another event, Yap posted a selfie with the couple and wrote: “Nice to see Paul Oei and Loretta Lai!”
On Tuesday, Postmedia asked for comment from Yap through his riding office, but did not get a response.
In an interview Tuesday, NDP MLA Selina Robinson said she believes the Oei case raises serious questions about the source of B.C. Liberal donations.
Oei and Lai also donated $1,420 to the Vancouver South Conservative Association, elections records show. Oei’s lawyer, Tim Louman-Gardiner, did not return a call Tuesday for comment on this story.
B.C. debt security documents show that in total, Lai and Oei have loans on six luxury vehicles. Lai and Oei own four properties in B.C., title documents show, including a Point Grey property assessed at $2.5 million.