Man convicted of murdering suspect in B.C. money-laundering case

A B.C. man has been convictedof killing an individual once alleged to have been at the centre of an international money-laundering operation.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Watchuk has found Richard Reed guilty of the first-degree murder of 44-year-old Jian Jun Zhu, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said in a statement Thursday.

Reed was also convicted of reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of a prohibited firearm.

A date for sentencing has yet to be set.

"This outcome is a testament to our commitment to justice and to our investigations," said IHIT's Cpl. Chase Smith in a statement.

The verdict comes almost four years after Reed fatally shot Zhu at a Japanese restaurant in Richmond, B.C., onSept. 18, 2020.

Zhu was one of thekey figures in the RCMP's failed E-Pirate investigation into money laundering that was launched in 2015.

Documents related to E-Pirate alleged that Zhu ran anunderground bank that laundered more than $200 million per year. All charges against Zhu, who denied any wrongdoing, were eventually stayed in November 2018.

Zhu's name arose repeatedly at B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen's commission into money laundering, which was established in May 2019 to examine the alleged flow of billions of dollars worth of dirty money through the province's casinos, real estate market, luxury car sales and the drug trade.

An associate of Zhu was granted standing at the inquiry after Cullen noted that his name had alsoemerged in testimony suggesting he "has been engaged in money laundering and loan sharking relating to activities at British Columbia casinos.

The investigation ended without the associatebeing charged.