Accused Canadians seek asylum in Turks and Caicos Islands
Two Canadians accused of fraud who are believed to have targeted political figures are seeking “political asylum” in the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands, alleging that the Canadian government plans to kill them.
Cullen Johnson and Elaine White, who have been on the run since pleading not guilty to fraud charges in Newmarket, Ont., in 2009, told a magistrate in the resort community of Providenciales they have contacted the United Nations.
“They basically said in open court that they were making a petition to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for political asylum in the Turks and Caicos because they believe (the government) will murder them when they return to Canada,” said Neil Smith, a spokesman for the governor of the British Overseas Territory.
Johnson, a former Toronto police officer, and White, a former forensic accountant, are alleged to have defrauded a number of people through their former private detective agency, Internal Affairs.
An Ontario Superior Court found former Ontario provincial representative Eric Cunningham was victimized by the firm, finding that it produced “fraudulent” records that purported to show he had $2.3 million in offshore bank accounts as part of a messy divorce action.
Police alleged the firm offered to find hidden offshore money for people engaged in divorces, then created records that showed accounts that did not exist. Johnson said he is innocent and is the victim of a conspiracy by powerful Canadian politicians.
The Ontario Provincial Police have been trying to locate Johnson and White since 2009, sources say, and helped immigration officials in the Turks and Caicos trace them to a condominium in La Vista Azul Resort, a posh waterfront development in Providenciales. Brad Sullivan, an RCMP officer who is Deputy Commissioner with the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force, said Thursday that his officers assisted in the arrest of the couple last month. The pair was charged with staying longer on the islands than allowed by law. White’s passport was expired.
They have been remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison on Grand Turk pending deportation to Canada.