Former Mountie William Majcher stood on the steps outside Vancouver’s law court on Wednesday to say he was “very relieved” at being found not guilty of acting unlawfully for the Chinese government.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Martha Devlin found Majcher not guilty of a charge under Canada’s Security of Information Act, after he was accused of working with China’s government on a plan to coerce a multimillionaire to return there to face fraud charges.
“I’m very grateful for the judge,” Majcher said. “I’m grateful to my wife, who’s been with me the whole step of the way.”
Majcher said the case dragging on for nearly three years has been “devastating” for his wife and young children.
“That’s time I’ll never get back, they’ll never get back,” he said.
Majcher said his focus now is moving forward with his children and rebuilding his business.
He denied having a “working relationship” with the Chinese government.
“I was always dealing with state-owned enterprises, dealing with Chinese government, because that’s the nature of doing business when you’re in Hong Kong with banking and asset management,” he said.
Devlin said she had doubt about the nature and extent of Majcher’s actions and the Crown had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed any of the alleged acts.
The Crown had accused the former RCMP officer of acting as a “proxy” for Chinese authorities as he prepared to convince the Canadian resident to return to China in 2017.
He faced one count of committing preparatory acts to commit an offence under Canada’s Security of Information Act.
Devlin said she couldn’t find evidence that such preparation took place.
“Clearly, the language of section 22 of the (Security of Information Act) requires not only an intention to prepare to commit an offence, but also something to actually be done in preparation for the offence.”
The Crown’s case hinged on emails sent by Majcher to a colleague named Ross Gaffney, a former FBI agent, referencing a plan to get a Chinese fugitive living in Vancouver named Kevin Sun to return to China. Sun was accused of absconding with $120 million in assets from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the court heard.
The Crown claims the emails showed Majcher was working for the benefit of or in association with Chinese law enforcement and “had taken specific steps directed toward and in preparation of inducing Mr. Sun to acquiesce to the (People’s Republic of China’s) demands.”
The Crown also alleged the threats, had they been carried out, would have done “harm” to Canadian interests.
“Persons who engage in private investigative work focused on alleged economic fugitives may at times use colourful language to describe their targets and methodologies,” Devlin said. “Mr. Majcher’s communications with Mr. Gaffney in this passage reflect a tendency to speak in inflammatory or dramatic terms, rather than betraying actions subjectively directed toward preparation for the commission of an extortive criminal offence.”
“I find the Crown has failed to meet its burden in this case.”
Majcher’s lawyer, Ian Donaldson, said in closing remarks last month that the Crown’s case against his client was “purely circumstantial.”
He told the court there was no proof his client was targeting Sun, a Vancouver real estate mogul, in an email that the Crown said was a central piece of evidence.
Donaldson said outside court after the verdict on Wednesday that the case has been “extraordinarily disruptive” to Majcher and his family.
He said police had used information against him that was false and “ought to have been known to be false.”
The Crown’s failed to prove Majcher’s intention to commit an unlawful act, and “intention is a critical part of criminal law everywhere, almost everything,” he said.
Devlin said that even assuming Majcher did speak to Chinese police about inducements they might offer Sun to return to China, “I cannot find, based on the evidentiary record before me, that Mr. Majcher specifically did so with a view to preparing for the commission of offence.”
The trial revealed details of RCMP co-operation with Chinese police, and how three Chinese police officials allegedly went “missing” for six hours during an RCMP-escorted visit to Vancouver in 2018 — setting off concerns they could have been trying to illicitly repatriate someone.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2026.
By Darryl Greer | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.