Former Mountie charged with foreign interference involving Chinese government

A retired Mountie has been charged with foreign interference after being accused of helping the Chinese government "identify and intimidate" an individual in Canada.

The RCMP arrested William Majcher, 60, Thursday night in Vancouver during a visit to Canada and he appeared via videoconference at a courthouse Friday in Longueuil, an off-island suburb on Montreal's South Shore.

"Majcher allegedly used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People's Republic of China," an RCMP press release states.

Majcher is from Hong Kong, according to the national police force.

He was charged with two counts under the Security of Information Act: preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity and conspiracy.

The RCMP says an investigation into Majcher's alleged "suspicious activities" was first launched in the fall of 2021 by members of RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) in Montreal.

The alleged interference noticed by officials was one of trying to enhance the capacity of China to identify and intimidate an individual in Canada, according to RCMP Insp. David Beaudoin, who is in charge of operations at INSET.

"It is alleged that he contributed to the Chinese government's efforts to identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law," the news release said.

Police have not said who was the target of China's alleged intimidation campaign cited in this case.

The RCMP's allegations against Majcher have not been proven in court.

NOT RELATED TO CANADIAN ELECTIONS: RCMP

The arrest comes on the heels of a heated debate on Parliament Hill about how to respond to concerns about Chinese interference in Canadian elections. MPs are currently debating whether or not to call a national public inquiry into the matter that has been at the forefront of federal politics in recent months.

However, the RCMP says the arrest of Majcher is not related to Canadian elections.

"It is a foreign actor interference-related file, but it is not related to anything touching on the election," Beaudoin said in an interview with CTV News.

The laying of charges under the Security of Information Act is rare in Canada. Beaudoin said there are "several investigations currently underway that touch on foreign actor interference."

"We are seeing it more and more often as the RCMP is continuing to treat foreign actor interference as a strategic priority. It is one of the tools that we have at our availability to try and address criminal behaviour in that field," Beaudoin said.

More arrests could follow, he added. 

MAJCHER WORKED AS UNDERCOVER OFFICER, INVESTIGATED MONEY LAUNDERING

Majcher's employment with the RCMP ended in 2007, and the alleged crimes would have occurred between 2014 and 2019, starting about seven years after he left the police force.

During his 22-year tenure as an RCMP officer, he worked in patrol work and was an experienced drug and financial crime investigator, 

The website says he has long had professional relationships in Asia since 1994 and in 2006, he relocated to Hong Kong, where he set up an international banking platform for a bank in that city.

An unofficial biography on Speakers Connect describes Majcher as a former undercover agent whose work with the RCMP involved trade-based money laundering and infiltrating a Colombian cocaine cartel. He is said to have also exposed banks in the Caribbean that were "established by the Russian mafia to facilitate all manner of criminal activities."

According to a LinkedIn profile under his name, William "Bill" Majcher serves as president and global head of recovery operations at EMIDR, a corporate risk firm specializing in cybersecurity.

He is due back in court on July 25.

Last November, the Mounties charged a former Hydro-Quebec engineer and accused him of being a spy for China. Yuesheng Wang, 35, from Candiac, Que. was charged with obtaining trade secrets, unauthorized use of a computer, fraud for obtaining trade secrets, and breach of trust by a public officer.

With files from CTV's Rachel Aiello.