The actions of a former RCMP officer accused of violating security law for the benefit of Chinese authorities were an affront to Canadian sovereignty, a Crown prosecutor told British Columbia Supreme Court on Friday.

William Majcher pleaded not guilty to one charge under Canada’s Security of Information Act as his judge-alone trial got underway in Vancouver this week.

The Crown alleged he planned to use the threat of arrest to coerce a Vancouver-area resident and real estate mogul to comply with Chinese government demands.

Prosecutor Ryan Carrier told Justice Martha Devlin in his closing submissions on Friday that evidence shows the target was Hongwei Sun, also known as Kevin Sun, who was wanted by the Chinese government for financial crimes.

He said Sun was accused of defrauding the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and absconding to Canada with about $120 million in the early 2000s.

Majcher, meanwhile, had moved to Hong Kong following his retirement from the RCMP in 2007 and founded an asset recovery firm called EMIDR.

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Carrier said he acted as a proxy for Chinese police in pursuit of Sun, taking steps to help them do an “end-run” around an RCMP decision to halt their assistance in the case.

Carrier said Chinese police were able to “project” their power beyond China’s borders into Canada, constituting unauthorized foreign interference.

He said Majcher’s alleged actions constituted an “affront” to Canadian sovereignty and posed a serious threat to Sun, a Canadian permanent resident.

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Carrier said Majcher is charged under the section of Canada’s security legislation that deals with preparing to commit an offence under the same law, including actions for the benefit of or in association with a foreign entity or terrorist group.

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