OTTAWA – Toronto-based bank Weath One, founded by a Chinese financier, has been fined $676,500 for administrative violations of the Proceeds from Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its regulations.
• Also read: Interference: A Chinese influence that goes far back in Canada
• Also read: Chinese interference: Justin Trudeau still reluctant to launch a public inquiry
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) makes the announcement on Monday. The fine was imposed on February 15 and paid in full. The case is therefore closed, says FINTRAC.
Its investigation found that Wealth One committed a number of administrative offences. For example, it did not assess money laundering and terrorist financing risks and did not submit suspicious transaction reports related to money laundering.
“The bank takes these issues very seriously and is addressing them by continually improving in the normal course of its interactions with regulators,” said the institution’s president, Paul Leonard, who assured that his firm was in full cooperation with the authorities throughout the investigation worked together.
Wealth One has been in the news for the past few days over allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s democratic system. It was founded by wealthy Chinese financier Shenglin Xian, Chairman of Shenglin Financial Group in Toronto, and began operations 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, weeks after its founder, Shenglin Xian, attended a fundraising dinner honoring Justin Trudeau had. In addition, around 50 donations from the Chinese Canadian community in Vancouver and Toronto went to Justin Trudeau’s Montréal 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 has never done so. Additionally, our letter patent was obtained in 2015 under the previous Conservative government,” spokesman Barry Fergusson said.
However, The Globe and Mail revealed that Wealth One has been under investigation by the Canadian Secret Service (CSIS) since 2021 and that Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland personally took up the case last December. Soon after, Shenglin Xian, along with real estate developer Mao Hua Chen and food magnate Yuansheng Ou Yang, left all their positions on the bank’s board.