The Crown has failed to prove William Majcher was taking steps to threaten an alleged B.C.-based fraudster at the behest of the Chinese government, a lawyer for the former Mountie told the judge overseeing Majcher’s foreign influence trial Monday.
Veteran defender Ian Donaldson concluded his submissions in B.C. Supreme Court with a call for Majcher’s acquittal — telling Justice Martha Devlin that the Crown was asking her to take a “leap of logic” by imputing criminal motive to innocent actions.
Donaldson told the judge on the final day of the trial that the Crown’s case is purely circumstantial, based on a narrow reading of two paragraphs plucked from an email Majcher wrote to a colleague in 2017.
“One ought not to, in my respectful submission, extract a sentence or two [and] construe those in the most negative fashion possible,” Donaldson said.
“That email, in my respectful submission, is powerful evidence that tends to negate any ulterior criminal intent of any sort.”
Majcher has pleaded not guilty to one count of “engaging in preparatory acts to commit an offence” under Canada’s Security of Information Act.
The Crown claims the Chinese used Majcher in 2017 to do an “end-run” around Canadian laws preventing them from directly arresting or approaching multimillionaire Hongwei (Kevin) Sun, who moved to Vancouver after allegedly committing financial crimes in China.
After leaving the RCMP, Majcher moved to Hong Kong, where he founded a firm specializing in asset recovery and private investigation.
Prosecutors claim he outlined the alleged “preparatory acts” for a campaign of coercion against Sun in an email written to a colleague about a “fraudster” who the Crown claims must be Sun.
“The fraudster is now a … major real estate mogul in Vancouver and we have located over $100M of assets. The Chinese Police have opened a Task Force and standing by to issue a global arrest warrant,” Majcher wrote.
“I hope to have a copy of the warrant before it is issued so we can impress upon the crook that we hold the keys to his future. I am meeting an associate of the target tomorrow in HK [Hong Kong] to see if he can help negotiate a settlement as the Chinese want to use this as a precedent case to settle economic crimes quietly and expeditiously.”
In his submissions, Donaldson said the Crown had not proven that the fraudster Majcher was referring to was Sun, saying testimony given by the RCMP’s former Chinese liaison officer about China’s interest in Sun could not be accepted as fact without supporting documentation.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Majcher ever knew anything about Mr. Sun,” Donaldson told the judge.
Because of the wording of the statute used to charge Majcher, both the Crown and the defence spent a great deal of time arguing over the nature of a “preparatory act” — and when otherwise lawful activities cross into criminality.
At one point, prosecutor Ryan Carrier compared the situation to buying a knife for cutting vegetables as opposed to stabbing someone. One is clearly legal, the other is a first step toward a criminal act. The difference lies in intent.
Donaldson told the judge the Crown had failed to prove criminal intent on Majcher’s part at the time he wrote the email.
And he said the judge needed to consider the key paragraphs in the wider context of a missive written by a man prone to hyperbole about business plans that were entirely “in the public interest.”
He noted that it’s not illegal to threaten to sue someone, nor is it illegal to chase money through the courts on behalf of a foreign entity.
Donaldson said a reasonable inference from the email is that Majcher “was talking about chasing a fraudster for a bunch of money.”
“That doesn’t read as if it’s a criminal plan … an unlawful plan,” Donaldson said.
“The Crown is suggesting that from a few sentences in a couple of emails you should conclude that there is criminally culpable conduct.”
Meanwhile, a proposed witness who the Crown decided not to call to the stand at the last moment issued a statement expressing his frustration as the trial wrapped.
Kenneth (Kim) Marsh had been publicly identified as an unindicted co-conspirator. A former RCMP officer and friend of Majcher, he attended the trial each day.
Pre-trial rulings detail the evidence he was expected to proffer had he testified.
“Marsh apparently investigated Mr. Sun for an alleged financial fraud that Mr. Sun had committed against the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China,” Devlin wrote.
“I expect that, among other things, the Crown will intend to establish through Mr. Marsh that the description of the ‘fraudster’ and ‘crook’ in Mr. Majcher’s correspondence … is consistent with information Mr. Marsh had gathered about Mr. Sun.”
But the Crown concluded without calling Marsh, surprising Donaldson and drawing a gasp from the public gallery.
In a statement, Marsh said he was “deeply disappointed that I was not called to testify after waiting for the opportunity to clear my name.”
“My life has been turned upside down. My home was searched, my name was dragged through the mud, and years later I still haven’t been cleared,” Marsh said in his statement.
“The damage to my reputation, my work, and my family is something I’m still living with every day. I believe this court was not told the full story, and that my evidence would have helped show how flawed the investigation really was.”
It is unclear how long Devlin will take to reach her decision.
