Police Charge Former Toronto Lawyer and Beijing Ally With Fraud and Money Laundering

Ping-Teng Tan (L), who has been an executive of a number of organizations close to the Toronto Chinese Consulate, at a rally in Markham, Ont., on Aug. 11, 2019. The event aims to condemn the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Yi Ling/The Epoch Times

York Regional Police have charged former Toronto lawyer Ping-Teng Tan, who is a fixture at pro-Beijing events in the Toronto area, with fraud and money laundering.

Tan was charged on March 26 with two counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, and one count of laundering proceeds of crime, York Regional Police told The Epoch Times.

Tan is scheduled to appear in court on May 1, the police said, adding that they can’t comment further as the charges are now before the court.

A well-known figure in the Toronto Chinese community, Tan has been a prominent figure in events and initiatives that favour Beijing’s positions for years.

Last year Tan’s licence was suspended “on an interlocutory basis” in an order issued by the Law Society Tribunal, an independent tribunal that hears cases between the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and Ontario lawyers and paralegals. According to the order, the LSO received a complaint from a former client of Tan in February that year, alleging that Tan had withheld over half a million dollars secured from the sale of a business, a transaction Tan had been hired to manage.

Tan consented to the interlocutory suspension at the time without admitting the factual assertions made by the LSO, but he reserved the right to contest the allegations at a hearing, the order said. Tan obtained his law licence in 1977 and had worked as a sole practitioner since 2007.

Besides filing a complaint with the Law Society Tribunal, the client also filed a report with York Regional Police last year.

The tribunal ordered the suspension of Tan’s licence following a hearing heard by videoconference on April 29, 2024. The tribunal’s reasons for the order were that, while no findings of misconduct had been made at that point, the unchallenged evidence constituted “an objective basis to believe that a risk to the public exists based on compelling and credible information.”

The tribunal told The Epoch Times on April 9 that Tan’s licence remains suspended.

According to the original order document, published on June 6, 2024, “Allegations of misappropriation of trust monies raise serious concerns about a licensee’s integrity. If ultimately proven, they would fall within the category of misconduct to which presumptive revocation would apply.”

The Epoch Times sought comment from Tan, but his email and phone number are no longer in service, and his law firm and website have been shut down. He has not responded to previous requests for comment.

Tan was sued in two other lawsuits by two separate sets of clients with similar allegations last year. He was ordered to pay more than $1 million by an Ontario court to those clients who sued him for withholding the funds received from the sale of their home or business.

Michael Lesage, the lawyer representing one of the couples who sued Tan, told The Epoch Times that although the court ruled in their favour, they have yet to receive compensation for their loss.

Pro-Beijing Activities

Tan has held positions linked to Beijing’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), an agency identified as a primary foreign interference tool of the Chinese regime. The All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, a United Front group, previously referred to Tan as an “overseas member” of the organization’s legal advisory committee.

The Chinese regime was identified as the foremost foreign interference threat to Canada by the Hogue report released in January. “At the time of writing this report, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions. The PRC views Canada as a high-priority target,” said the Jan. 28 final report by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue of the Foreign Interference Commission.

Meanwhile, federal security officials have said Beijing is “highly likely” to attempt to interfere in this year’s federal election.

Tan also played a key role in creating the Chinese Canadians for China’s Reunification (GTA) organization in 2000, a Toronto branch of the Chinese Communist Party’s China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, and he has served as the Toronto branch’s chair. He was also one of the main initiators of a similar group, the Chinese Canadian Alliance for the Promotion of China’s Reunification, established in 2001. In an article dated January 2024 on the council’s website, he received praise for these contributions.

Some of Tan’s organizations have been vocal opponents of Canada’s stance on the Chinese regime’s human rights violations.

In 2021, as chair of Chinese Canadians for China’s Reunification (GTA), Tan issued a joint statement opposing a motion the House of Commons had unanimously passed that year recognizing Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims as a genocide.

“We believe that the motion of the House of Commons is a great mistake and strongly oppose it,” reads the statement. “Canada has always been concerned about human rights issues around the world. However, this motion will backfire and have the opposite effect.”

Tan has also been quoted by China Daily supporting Beijing’s handling of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and its stance on Taiwan’s “reunification.”

The Canadian government last December condemned China for its rights abuses and imposed sanctions against eight “former or current senior [Chinese] officials involved in grave human rights violations” against the Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Tibetans, and practitioners of the Falun Gong meditation practice.

Andrew Chen and Noé Chartier contributed to this report.