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And several weeks ago they put three empty lots up for sale on Belmont Drive, a street lined with mansions commanding some of the city’s highest prices. The three properties are believed to be the most expensive undeveloped single-family lots in Vancouver. MLS listings for the three properties asked for a total of $68.5 million.

In the lawsuit, Gui Hua Chen claims the “informal” $10 million loan was negotiated with Chongye Developments.

The money would be deposited in Chinese currency into a bank account in China with the key term that Chongye would repay $10 million in B.C., according to legal filings. It is not known if any of the money loaned in China actually made its way to Canada.

Ron Usher — a lawyer and member of the independent review panel that investigated practices in B.C.’s real estate industry — reviewed legal and land title documents relating to the case that were obtained by Postmedia.

Usher said the case has a number of financial and legal details that he has never seen before.

“It looks like you put some money down overseas and that gets you a credit in B.C., so there is no actual international wire transfer of money,” Usher said, of the transaction described in this lawsuit.

The case takes place in the context of a historic flight of capital out of China. The New York Times reported over $1 trillion has left China since early 2015, as the Chinese yuan is devalued to combat economic weakness.

China has strict rules barring citizens from transferring more than $50,000 out of the country. In Canada, funds over $10,000 must be reported to Canada’s border agents and large cash transfers must be reported to the government.