Based on coverage from Lethbridge News Now, Halifax CityNews, and Yahoo News.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has tossed a high-stakes lawsuit that tried to link Metro Vancouver real estate to a deadly 2017 contract killing in China.
This ruling comes amid ongoing discussions about the legal complexities surrounding high-stakes lawsuits in Canada, similar to the recent case where the Yukon Supreme Court ordered costs in an education-related lawsuit, highlighting the judiciary's role in resolving financial disputes. For more details, see our coverage on the Yukon Supreme Court's decision.
The case was brought by the family of Changbin Yang, who was murdered in China, against the family of Long Ni, the man later convicted of ordering the killing. Ni was executed in China in 2020. The plaintiffs argued Ni borrowed a massive sum from Yang and then used that money to buy properties in B.C. Instead, Justice Gordon Funt ruled the evidence did not get them over the legal finish line.
B.C. Supreme Court dismisses Metro Vancouver claim
The lawsuit, filed in 2018, named Ni, his wife, and his daughter as defendants. The central allegation was that Ni borrowed the equivalent of $113 million from Yang, supposedly to invest in the Chinese mining industry, and then diverted the funds into several B.C. properties.
In a decision released Wednesday, Funt said the plaintiffs failed to provide enough evidence that the properties were purchased with the alleged loan money, or that Ni “fraudulently misrepresented” what the funds would be used for. He described the case as “extraordinary” because of the international backstory and the execution of the lead defendant, but also “ordinary” because the outcome ultimately turned on a basic civil standard: the plaintiff’s burden of proof on a balance of probabilities.
$168 million sought after 2017 killing
The plaintiffs sought a total of $168 million, framed as family compensation following Yang’s death. They claimed Yang “was the wealthiest businessman in Yichang City,” with interests including a coal mine and a hotel.
The judge found a major hole in that story: the court was not given financial documentation to back up the scale of Yang’s wealth or the value of the businesses described. Funt wrote that the plaintiffs provided no financial statements for the hotel, the coal mine, or any other business, and gave no explanation for why that evidence was missing.
That lack of paper trail mattered because the lawsuit relied on proving large debt claims and tracing money into assets in B.C., something courts generally expect to see supported with documentation.
Judge questions proof of $113 million loan
Funt dismissed multiple debt-related claims, pointing to a lack of documentation of loans involving Ni and Yang, who were described as once being friends and both “seasoned” businessmen.
He also raised a common-sense concern about the alleged arrangement, writing: “As a seasoned businessman, it is highly improbable that Mr. Yang was nonchalant with respect to an unsecured personal loan of approximately $105 million.” (The ruling references both $113 million and approximately $105 million in describing the alleged unsecured loan amount.)
Chinese estate proceedings raise red flags
The decision also digs into Chinese court proceedings over the division of Yang’s estate. Yang died without a will, and the ruling reviews how the estate was handled and how those proceedings intersected with the claims made in B.C.
Funt concluded that an estate division agreement “served to mislead the Chinese courts.” He went further, writing that the plaintiffs “may have misled at least six Chinese judges” in a multimillion RMB enforcement proceeding, which he described as approximately $74 million. He added a blunt line about his own discomfort with the record before him: “Am I the seventh judge the plaintiffs wish to mislead?”
The judge also found that Ni’s wife misled a judge in B.C. about her own financial position.
Canadian courts reject enforcing China judgment
The plaintiffs also attempted to have a Chinese court judgment enforced in Canada against Ni’s estate. Funt refused to recognize it, citing concerns about judicial independence in China.
“I can take judicial notice” that China has been governed under a one-party system for more than 70 years by the Communist Party of China, he wrote, adding: “Conceptually, I have difficulty comprehending the existence of an independent judiciary where there is one-party rule.”
With the case dismissed, the plaintiffs’ effort to tie alleged loan funds to B.C. property purchases, and to enforce a Chinese judgment in Canada, ends at the trial level with a clear message from the court: extraordinary allegations still need ordinary proof.
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