Former Liberal MP Han Dong and the pro-Beijing Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations had their accounts closed by Toronto-Dominion Bank following reports linking them to foreign interference networks.
According to records obtained by the Globe and Mail, TD closed the pro-China confederation’s accounts after examining transaction history, allegedly identifying possible money laundering.
The group, formed in 1985, is an organization that claims to represent Chinese Canadian interests, but was also revealed to have ties to Beijing’s United Front Work Department–a collection of official and unofficial Chinese Communist Party organizations dedicated to spreading communist China’s influence and propaganda worldwide.
TD suspects that the group’s accounts were used to launder money and for “pass-through activities,” referring to money quickly transferred in and out of an account for another beneficiary.
The bank passed on this information to Canada’s financial watchdog, FINTRAC, responsible for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing efforts.
TD records also revealed that Dong had his joint bank account with his wife, Sophia Qiao, frozen shortly after Dong had left the Liberal caucus on March 22, 2023.
TD did not provide a reason why they decided to debank Dong, though banks are not required to provide a reason for their decision.
In 2019, Qiao had received a $200,000 cheque from Cheng Yi Wei in 2019, the permanent honorary chair and executive director of the pro-China confederation. These funds were repaid by Qiao in 2022.
Wei is the owner of the supermarket chain Foody Mart and has been previously investigated by CSIS for his alleged involvement in a foreign interference scheme with the PRC in the 2019 federal election, facilitating large money transfers.
The debanking of Dong came after he left the Liberal caucus in March 2023, months after reports surfaced that he had allegedly advised the Chinese Consul-General in Toronto to keep two Canadian citizens — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — in detention.
The two Michaels were detained in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, in accordance with the extradition treaty Canada has with the United States. Kovrig and Spavor have since been released in a deal that saw the charges against Wanzhou dropped.
Dong has denied the allegations, sued Global News for defamation, and has opted not to seek re-election in Don Valley North.
The Liberals have since had to drop their candidate in Markham–Unionville, Paul Chiang, after he was caught on camera urging his supporters to collect a bounty placed on the head of his Conservative rival by turning him over to Chinese authorities.
Chiang was then replaced by former Toronto Police Service deputy chief Peter Yuen, who is an honorary director of the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada, an organization with ties to the United Front Work Department.
Yuen was also a board member of NOIC Academy, a private school flagged by intelligence officials for election interference.