‘Project Snowflake’: Fraud claim hits sale of Vancouver mountain involving China investment giant CMIG, US$100m loans and a US$381,000 private jet flight from Shanghai
- The lawsuit claims a co-investor was a victim of ‘fraudulent misrepresentation’ that deprived him of a 30 per cent share of the Grouse Mountain ski resort
- He says he paid millions towards the 2017 deal in which China Minsheng Investment Group took a 40 per cent stake
A controversial deal to buy the ski mountain overlooking Vancouver that involved the cash-strapped Chinese investment giant CMIG has been hit with allegations of fraud in a lawsuit that purports to reveal details of the 2017 transaction, dubbed “Project Snowflake”.
Among other claims, it says two executives from China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG) flew from Shanghai to Vancouver on a private jet chartered for US$381,000 to inspect the resort, in which CMIG took a 40 per cent stake.
It also depicts a complex web of transactions, supposedly involving a C$2 million (US$1.5 million) deposit paid on CMIG’s behalf but routed via the wife of a Vancouver-based co-investor.
The lawsuit’s claims are unproven. Lodged in the British Columbia Supreme Court on February 4, it seeks 30 per cent of the proceeds from the recent resale of the resort for an undisclosed amount. The original 2017 asking price for the iconic resort, whose floodlit slopes are visible across Vancouver at night, was C$200 million (US$151 million).
CMIG is a private investment conglomerate backed by dozens of Chinese tycoons. It was founded under the direction of Premier Li Keqiang in 2014, as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. The company had targeted assets around the world, but last year revealed it was in a liquidity crisis that left it unable to repay the principal and interest on US$500 million of bonds.