Victims of an elaborate Canada Revenue Agency telemarketing scam in early 2019 may see some money back after the sale of a Burnaby house allegedly used to launder the ill-gotten gains.
Former Burnaby resident Haoran Xue, 29, (also known as Charlie Xue) was charged in June 2021 with fraud, theft and other crimes related to an CRA scam allegedly perpetrated by Xue and four associates, according to the RCMP.
Posing as representatives from the CRA, RCMP, software companies and banks, they contacted unsuspecting victims and demanded they send money and gift cards to mailboxes in Ontario and B.C., according to allegations in B.C. Supreme Court documents.
The fraud involved seven victims who collectively lost $198,700, but $90,000 was intercepted and returned, according to police.
Xue, a Chinese citizen, is wanted on an outstanding warrant as he has yet to make a single court appearance on the charges.
He is also wanted on an immigration warrant.
The Canada Border Services Agency arrested Xue after an immigration investigation but released him on a $10,000 surety, according to court documents.
Police believe he has left Canada and returned to China.
In the meantime, the province’s civil forfeiture office has gone after a house owned by Xue’s father, Zenggang Xue, at 7318 Fourth St. in East Burnaby.
In a civil action filed in November 2019, the civil forfeiture office claimed the house really belonged to Charlie Xue and had been bought with proceeds from the alleged fraud and used to launder the money.
Xue’s father denied those claims, saying the house belonged to him and was “the result of his hard work and savings,” according to a response to the lawsuit.
Last month, however, Zenggang Xue settled the suit by relinquishing $200,000 from the sale of the house to the civil forfeiture office.
Charlie Xue never filed a response to the claim.
The $200,000 represents nearly the full traceable amount from the fraud linked to the Burnaby house, according to the RCMP.
“The B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office intends to use the funds to launch a victim compensation program,” stated an RCMP news release this week.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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