Victims of alleged Chinese currency exchange scam

An Dong Pan says he didn't have any concerns when he referred his client to a currency exchange business in Richmond, B.C.

A Realtor for over a decade, Pan says the businesses are commonly used by new Chinese immigrants who need money while their assets are still in China.

Now, he says he's out of pocket nearly half a million dollars and has little hope of ever seeing his money again.

Pan's client entered into an agreement with Cai Jing to transfer 2,371,850 Renminbi — Chinese currency — into a designated account in China, after which the client would receive the equivalent amount in Canadian funds — $445,000 — in a Canadian account.

"I am furious," he said. "These are breaking society's rules and breaking the laws, breaking the rules here, and so many victims they had such a bad experience."

Foreign currency exchange businesses, while legal, operate in an area that lacks regulation to protect victims, according to experts like former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German, making consumers vulnerable to fraud and creating the potential for millions of dollars to be laundered into British Columbia.

These businesses are commonly used by diaspora communities to get money out of countries like China and Iran that impose restrictions on how much money can be exported.

For example, China limits individuals to withdrawing a maximum of $50,000 US per year.

Currency exchange businesses meet the demand from expats looking to transfer funds to Canada by arranging for the transfer of money into an account in their home country in their own currency before receiving the equivalent in Canadian dollars for a fee.

Lawsuits allege hundreds of thousands lost

According to a lawsuit filed by Pan in B.C. Supreme Court in January 2020, Pan referred one of his clients to Jing Cai, an individual who claimed to have $445,000 Cdn at her disposal to trade.

According to the lawsuit, the payment to the client never occurred, and when Pan confronted Jing Cai, she said she was an agent for Xu Dong Liu and Jia Hao.

CBC News has found at least nine lawsuits filed against Xu Dong Liu and her husband, Jia Hao Dong, for losses of up to  $1 million US through breached exchange agreements which in their entirety account for millions of dollars allegedly being defrauded.

Liu and Dong have not filed responses to some of the claims, but in a reply to three, Liu denied any wrongdoing.