OTTAWA – Toronto bank Weath One founded by a Chinese financier has been fined $676,500 for administrative violations of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its regulations.
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The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) make the announcement on Monday. The fine was imposed on February 15 and has been paid in full. The case is therefore closed, says FINTRAC.
His investigation determined that Wealth One committed a series of administrative violations. For example, it did not assess money laundering and terrorist activity financing risks, and it did not submit suspicious transaction reports related to money laundering.
“The Bank takes these issues very seriously and is tackling them by continually improving in the normal course of its collaboration with regulators,” said the president of the institution Paul Leonard who assures that his company has collaborated fully with authorities throughout the investigation.
Wealth One has been in the news in recent days over allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s democratic system. Founded by wealthy Chinese financier Shenglin Xian, chairman of Shenglin Financial Group in Toronto, it began operating in Canada in 2016.
The Bloc Québécois is concerned that Canada’s Superintendent of Financial Institutions granted it the right to operate in the country on July 7, 2016, a few weeks after its founder, Shenglin Xian, took part in a fundraising dinner in honor of by Justin Trudeau. In addition, some 50 donations from the Chinese-Canadian community in Vancouver and Toronto went to Justin Trudeau’s Montreal riding of Papineau on the day and the day before the Superintendent of Financial Institutions gave the go-ahead.
But the institution denies any political activity. “The Bank does not endorse any party or candidate and never has. In addition, our letters patent were received in 2015, under the previous Conservative government,” said spokesperson Barry Fergusson.
The Globe and Mail revealed, however, that Wealth One has been under investigation by the Canadian Intelligence and Security Service (CSIS) since 2021, and that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland took up the case personally last December. . Soon after, Shenglin Xian, along with real estate developer Mao Hua Chen and food tycoon Yuansheng Ou Yang, all left their positions on the bank’s board.