British Columbia's government is pursuing the permanent forfeiture of $265,000 plus accumulated interest from an account at the Bank of China branch in Richmond, marking a significant development in a decade-long case involving alleged unlicensed real estate activities.
Court Documents Reveal Allegations
The director of civil forfeiture filed a statement in B.C. Supreme Court last week alleging that Feng (Fanny) Ni and Xiao Wen (Wendy) Ye obtained the substantial cash sum through unlicensed real estate services. This legal action comes exactly ten years after provincial regulators initially froze the account linked to what they described as illicit real estate transactions.
Regulatory History and Company Background
In 2016, B.C.'s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate issued an order compelling Ni's company, Shangren Vancouver Settlement Service Ltd., to immediately cease all real-estate-linked operations. Simultaneously, regulators secured a court order freezing the specific account at the Richmond branch located at 8060 Westminster Highway.
Shangren remains a registered company with Ni listed as its sole director, though it currently holds "bad standing" status according to the B.C. Corporate Registry. The company's last annual report was filed in October 2024, indicating ongoing corporate existence despite regulatory challenges.
Pattern of Alleged Unlicensed Activities
The recent lawsuit reiterates allegations that originally prompted the 2016 regulatory orders. Court documents reveal that Ni established Shangren after dissolving her previous company, Sunway Realty Ltd., which had also faced allegations of conducting unlicensed real estate activities.
According to the director's claim, Sunway operated two websites that "were mirrors of each other and written entirely in Mandarin Chinese." These websites, owned by entities or individuals based in China, displayed British Columbia real estate listings while featuring only a single B.C. telephone number as contact information.
Detailed Website Operations
The websites advertised their representatives could assist clients "in finding a property" and displayed comprehensive housing data including:
- Property location and school district information
- Housing area and structural details
- Pricing and market duration statistics
- Historical transaction records
All content appeared exclusively in simplified Chinese, with listings sourced from the Multiple Listing Service website. The director's claim notes that "some listings on the websites were inaccurate and reflected incorrect pricing information," and critically, no brokerage or listing agent information was ever advertised to users.
Regulatory Response and Continued Investigation
Following the initial investigation by the superintendent of real estate, Ni voluntarily closed Sunway and asserted that her new company Shangren "would not provide real estate services." Instead, she claimed Shangren would focus exclusively on providing immigrant settlement services.
However, according to court documents, Shangren, Ni, and her employee Ye soon became subjects of another investigation for allegedly continuing to provide unlicensed real estate services despite these assurances. This pattern of alleged regulatory non-compliance forms the basis for the current civil forfeiture action seeking permanent government control over the $265,000 held at the Bank of China branch.
The case represents a significant example of British Columbia's ongoing efforts to regulate real estate activities and pursue assets allegedly obtained through unauthorized services within the province's competitive housing market.
