The Immigration and Refugee Board has ordered the release of accused Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing.
Board member Geoff Rempel says officials with Canada Border Services didn't prove that Lai was unlikely to appear if he was ordered out of Canada.
Rempel points out that the onus is on the government to prove the accused Chinese businessman a potential flight risk in order to justify depriving him of his liberty.
In fact, Rempel didn't even bother listening to Lai's lawyer argue for his release at a hearing today but went directly to his decision.
Another immigration board member ordered Lai released last week but that decision was stayed by a federal court pending a hearing in the case.
For 12 years Lai has been fighting his deportation to China, where officials accuse him of orchestrating a smuggling ring that cheated the Communist government out of millions of dollars in taxes.
