A retired Canadian National Police Force officer was charged Friday with foreign interference after allegedly spying for the Chinese government and targeting a man on its behalf, officials said.
The retired officer, William Mazer, 60, “used his knowledge in Canada and his extensive network of contacts to advantage to obtain intelligence or services,” Beijing officials said in a statement. The case is likely to fuel calls for a public inquiry into the Chinese government’s alleged involvement in Canadian affairs.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, Mr. Mazer, who lived in Hong Kong and was arrested Thursday evening in Vancouver after voluntarily returning to Canada, also assisted in “the Chinese government’s efforts to identify and intimidate a person outside the purview of Canadian law.”
The arrest comes after a two-year investigation by the RCMP into what the RCMP described as “suspicious activities” by Mr. Mazcher as the issue of Chinese interference in Canadian elections roiled political circles for months. Chinese diplomats and activists in Canada are believed to have sought to undermine elected officials critical of China’s record on human rights, particularly in districts with many ethnic Chinese voters in Vancouver and Toronto.
The Canadian government recently expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of conspiring to intimidate Toronto-area opposition lawmakers who led efforts in parliament to label its Uyghur Muslim community a genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been criticized by opposition parties for being soft on China, has resisted calls for a public inquiry into China’s activities in Canada. Chinese authorities have denied any involvement.
Insp. David Beaudoin, the Montreal chief of the unit that investigated Mr. Mazcher, said none of the suspect’s activities were “in any way related to interference in Canadian politics.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Mazcher was chairman of EMIDR, a corporate risk firm based in Hong Kong.
Sergeant RCMP spokeswoman Camille Habel said the Chinese government is “one of the biggest clients” of the firm, which specializes in “cross-border financial crime investigations and asset recovery.”
Inspector Beaudoin said investigators had so far identified one person, Mr Mazcher, as helping the target, but said the investigation was still ongoing. Authorities “are not ruling out the possibility of arresting and charging more individuals in the coming weeks,” he said.
Mr. Majcher worked for the RCMP between 1985 and 2007, specializing late in his career in federal investigations in the drugs and financial crimes division, Sergeant Habel said.
Dennis Molinaro, a former national security analyst for the Canadian government who now teaches legal studies at Ontario Tech University, said anyone with Mr. Mazcher’s background would have potentially useful information for the Chinese government.
“They will have useful information about how investigations are conducted and the methods used,” Mr. Molinaro said. “Anyone involved in that sector has useful contacts that they can reach out to, and those contacts may or may not know that those individuals are working for the PRC,” he added, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Appearing in court in Quebec via video conference on Friday, Mr. Mazcher was charged under Canada’s Information Security Act with preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity and conspiracy. Charges are rarely brought under the act, introduced by Canada after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
