Article content continued

Jin, already named as a key suspect and central to the RCMP’s E-Pirate money laundering probe according to a Postmedia investigation published in 2017, was arrested on Feb. 24, 2016 for possession of proceeds of crime, money laundering, and running illegal gambling operations, but was not charged. Seven others were arrested as part of E-Pirate but also not charged, according to a Postmedia investigation published last month. Charges of money laundering against two others were stayed last November.

The threshold for proving a civil claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a balance of probabilities rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.

The bulk of the money the civil suit seeks, $4.3 million, was seized in Canadian $20 and $100 bills wrapped in rubber bands inside a gun safe in the master bedroom of an apartment on Brighouse Way in Richmond near the north arm of the Fraser River.

Photo by CTV Vancouver / CTV Vancouver

Gambling equipment was seized at a mansion on No. 4 Road and another apartment on Brighouse Way.

According to the civil action, various individuals, including Jin and Wei, went to Silver International with suitcases, boxes and bags containing large sums of currency derived from crime.

The civil action alleges that Jin received nearly $27 million from Silver International during a 4½ month period in 2015, about one third of the money run through the operation during that period.

Jin is also accused in the civil suit of running illegal gambling in Richmond that netted a profit of $32 million during a four-month period in 2015. Jin is accused of lending $26 million to high-roller gamblers, with he and/or his associates using threats and violence to collect debts. In one case, it is alleged that a man working for Jin attempted to kidnap a child of one of the debtors by going to the child’s school and presenting photocopies of identification documents.