A woman who had previously received a removal order from Canada has defrauded three B.C. residents – two in Richmond and one in Vancouver – of $3 million dollars, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) alleges.
Meiyun Zhang convinced two of the individuals to invest in her business that she claimed would help Chinese students get Canadian visas. The other investor was told the money would be used for exchanging foreign currency for Canadian money for Chinese students and tourists visiting Canada. The BCSC said the incidents took place between 2014 and 2016.
“Zhang claimed the investors would earn returns of between 6 per cent and 10 per cent without any risk, even though such returns are not possible without risk,” the BCSC said in a news release.
“In addition, Zhang did not spend the investors’ money as promised.”
Instead, Zhang used the proceeds in part for personal expenses, including paying her utility bills, making retail purchases, gambling in casinos and repaying personal loans. Some of the money was used to hire a lawyer to dispute her removal order. As well, she used some of the money to pay returns to investors in China and Canada.
The allegations have not been proven. The BCSC said a hearing will be scheduled in December.
