British Columbia man convicted of murdering casino money launderer

Posted on: September 5, 2024, 03:25 AM.

Last updated: September 5, 2024, 03:25 AM.

A Richmond, British Columbia man has been convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the 2020 shooting death of Jian Jun Zhu, an alleged large-scale money launderer.

Richard Charles Reed was also acquitted of the attempted murder of Paul “King” Jin, an associate of Zhu. Jin was dining with the victim at the Manzo Japanese restaurant in Richmond when Reed opened fire with a .45-caliber Norinco semi-automatic pistol. Jin was wounded in the attack but survived.

Authorities in British Columbia suspect Jian was at the center of an operation that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money through the province’s casinos.

Reed was identified as a man wearing a striped black-and-white hoodie who was seen walking around the restaurant four minutes before the shooting. Prosecutors said he waited until the sun went down so he could escape in the dark.

Smoking gun

When police searched Reed’s apartment, they found the murder weapon under the bed, as well as a loaded magazine with Reed’s fingerprint on it.

Reed had frequent telephone contact with three men who were in or near the restaurant at the time of the shooting. Judge Jeanne Watchuk said the men likely helped Reed commit the murder.

One of these men, Jin Cai, was also eating with Manzo and was the only one to leave early, just minutes before the murder. Cai was murdered in his Vancouver home in June 2021. Another, Jack Qin, was the host of the meal. He was shot in the face in April 2021 but survived and testified at the trial.

The third man, Gordon Ma, was seen on surveillance footage with Reed before the shooting and was in frequent phone contact with Jin Cai before and after the shooting. His whereabouts are unknown.

Already, the trial was a matter for judges alone. In Canada, juries can be omitted altogether if there is a substantial risk of jury intimidation or manipulation.

Silver International

In 2017, Zhu was the subject of what was billed as Canada’s largest money laundering case in history, after he was accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds through Vancouver-area casinos via his currency exchange, Silver International.

Prosecutors in the case alleged that Silver was a front for an underground bank with ties to drug cartels.

The case collapsed when prosecutors inadvertently released the name of a key government witness during a routine evidentiary disclosure. The judge stayed the case after deciding that continuing with it would put the witness at “a high risk of death.”

Reed will be convicted