A trial for four Richmond residents accused of submitting false immigration documents that misrepresented 67 people and of bribing a Yukon government official launched this week and is scheduled to continue until July 15.
Following a five-year investigation called Project Husky, charges were laid in December 2020 against Tzu Chun Joyce Chang, 49; Qiong Joan Gu, 66; Aillison Shaunt Liu (also known as Allison Shaunt Liu), 31; and Shouzhi Stanley Guo, 38.
Chang and Gu are charged with misrepresenting 67 people as nominees of the Yukon Business Immigration Nominee program, a program that allows potential immigrants to set up a business in the territory and, after two years, apply for permanent residency status in Canada.
Liu and Gu are charged with misrepresenting applicants for permanent residency. Liu is also charged with knowingly using forged documents.
Chang, Gu and Liu are all charged with offering a “reward, advantage or benefit” to a Yukon government official, Ian David Young, or to his family, to help “influence” the business immigrant process.
According to Yukon RCMP, Young died in November 2020.
The allegations against the four Richmond residents date from July 2013 to September 2016 and are alleged to have taken place in Richmond, Whitehorse, Yuk., and Sydney, N.S.
The investigation into the scheme began in 2015, after suspicious documents submitted as part of permanent residency applications, were identified by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials.
The documents appeared to be nomination certificates, issued by the Government of Yukon under the Yukon Business Nominee Program, CBSA explained at the time the charges were laid.
However, the Yukon government confirmed the documents were false and had not been issued by their office.
CBSA then executed several search warrants in B.C. and Yukon to find evidence of the alleged scheme.
