One of China's most wanted men brought his illegal tactics to Canada, an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing was told Monday.
A Vancouver police officer told Lai Changxing's detention hearing his reliable source told him Lai was in charge of an illegal gaming operation out of a Richmond, B.C., home.
Det. James Fisher with the Vancouver Police special investigations unit said his source also told him Lai was in partnership with loan shark Betty Yan, who was found murdered in April 2009.
Lai's lawyer, Darryl Larson, was surprised to hear the allegations, and asked to delay Monday's hearing so he could talk to his client.
Lai, who attended the hearing via video and phone link from the Fraser Regional Correction Centre, blurted out several times in Mandarin near the end of the officers' testimony that the claims weren't true.
Lai also complained through a translator that he had to remain handcuffed during the hearing.
"It's so unfair to me," he yelled down the phone line.
Larson said the allegations show the desperation that Canada Border Services Agency has in keeping Lai in locked up.
"I want to talk to Mr. Lai about these allegations from an unnamed, long-term criminal, who apparently is a reliable testifier."
Chinese officials accuse Lai of being at the top of a huge smuggling operation that cheated the government there out of millions of dollars in taxes.
Lai has been fighting removal from Canada for 12 years, arguing that he could face torture or even death at the hands of China's Communist regime.
The federal court will hear another application from Lai's lawyers on Thursday asking for a stay of his deportation order.
While Fisher couldn't say if Lai was a member of an organized crime group, he said there was a level of trust between them.
He told the hearing that crime connection could provide false passports to people who want to get between China and Canada or who want to get out of Canada to other countries.
His case has drawn the attention of the highest political circles in both Canada and China.
Canada's foreign affairs minister denied Monday that his visit to China this week had anything to do with the federal government's push to eject Lai from Canada.
"I think most independent observers of the legal case will know that an elected official, let alone the minister, has no say in terms of timing of the return," John Baird told reporters on a conference call from China.
It took four years for the federal government to complete a pre-removal risk assessment report for Lai which concluded he didn't face death or injury if returned to face trial in China.
Days after the report was issued earlier this month, Lai was to be deported. His lawyer asked the federal court to temporarily stay the case until a full hearing on the deportation could be completed this week.
Baird conceded the extradition proceedings for the man considered one of China's most-wanted criminals came up in a conversation in Beijing.
"I did caution my Chinese counterpart that they shouldn't count on it being overly expeditious."
Baird said he had no reason to distrust the assurances of the Chinese government when it says capital punishment will no longer be used for white-collar crimes.
"The one thing I was struck by in my discussion with the ambassador in Ottawa and my colleagues here is when it comes to white-collar fraudsters or when it comes to drug crime, the Chinese people take them very seriously just like the Canadian people."
Larson said the comments from Baird underscore that Lai's case is all about politics instead of whether his client will be safe if he's returned.
Larson will be back at the refugee board Tuesday arguing the police officer's source isn't reliable evidence to use in order to detain Lai.
