By Dean Pritchard

A Chinese immigrant arrested working on a massive rural dope farm has been sentenced to two years house arrest.

Goon Kim Wong, 61, pleaded guilty to a single count of production of marijuana. Wong was one of 28 Asian immigrants arrested at the Sundown area farm in October 2005 and the last to be dealt with by the courts.

Court heard police seized 11,000 plants and 2,700 pounds of harvested marijuana worth at least $10 million.

When police raided the farm property, they found the 28 accused in a small house sleeping “head-to-foot, side-to-side,” said Crown attorney Geoff Bayly.

Wong is one of only three accused to be convicted in connection with the operation. Prosecutors stayed charges against 20 co-accused, while another five were acquitted at trial.

Many of the accused were recruited from Toronto’s Chinatown district and did not know they were harvesting marijuana while others felt trapped with no means of escape from the farm, Bayly said.

Prosecutors had evidence Wong may have had a supervisory role at the farm but agreed to a plea bargain due to witness translation issues, Bayly said.

Wong spent over 20 years working as a cook in Toronto and came to Sundown hoping to earn money for his children’s university education, said defence lawyer Rob Tsang.

“He was trying to help his children make a better life for themselves,” Tsang said.

Simon Wong, the man police allege ran the dope farm, has never been arrested. After the bust he boarded a Winnipeg plane bound for British Columbia and disappeared.

Brampton teacher charged with sexually assaulting student
Published 35 minutes ago

Dylan C. Robertson
Staff Reporter

Police have arrested a Brampton teacher following allegations of sexual assault involving a former student.

David Lang, 29, is charged with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and sexual assault.

He was held for a bail hearing and will appear in Brampton court on June 4.

Lang is a teacher at Cheyne Middle School in Brampton. He has spent the past three years with the Peel District School Board, and also taught at Fairwind Public School in Mississauga and Williams Parkway Senior Public School in Brampton.

He was arrested following a complaint from a 13-year-old girl, who is a former student.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3460 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Richmond agent stole immigrants’ ICBC payments
By Jason Proctor CBC News Posted: May 11, 2012 11:33 AM PT Last Updated: May 11, 2012 1:33 PM PT
A B.C. provincial court judge sentenced a Richmond insurance agent to one year in jail Thursday for stealing cash from dozens of customers’ insurance payments to pay for his trips to a casino.

Ka Chun Chan, 48, preyed on Chinese immigrants with very little command of English. According to an agreed statement of facts he claimed he took the money to maintain a gambling habit.

He instructed clients to make cheques payable to him rather than to the Insurance Corporation of B.C.
‘Are they going to get the message from Mr. Chan that Canada is a corrupt place?
—Judge Ron Fratkin

The scheme began to unravel when ICBC started notifying clients their Autoplan premiums were in arrears or unpaid.

In the meantime — dozens of motorists with high-end vehicles were driving around Lower Mainland roads without insurance.

Four arrested in counterfeit goods raid at Dr. Flea’s

Four people were arrested and more than $1 million worth of knock-offs were seized when Toronto police executed two search warrants at a north Etobicoke flea market late last week.

Members of 23 Division’s Major Crime Unit raided Dr. Flea’s International Flea Market at 8 Westmore Dr. on Friday, April 27 and Sunday, April 29 after a three-month counterfeit investigation.

Police allege they seized numerous counterfeit items of clothing, toys, handbags and wallets in their search of 16 booths at the popular flea market. The value of the seized items is estimated at more than $1 million.

Also seized were 5,359 fraudulent DVDs, valued at $107,180.

The four people arrested now face 11 charges under the Copyright Act.

No criminal record for illegal staffing

By: Mike McIntyre

A Winnipeg man has been spared a criminal record for employing illegal workers at a city sushi restaurant.

Jung Won Choi, 57, was given an 18-month conditional discharge Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. His sentence includes a unique provision that he make a $12,000 donation to two city organizations that work closely with new arrivals to Canada.

Provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie rejected the Crown’s bid for a $20,000 fine, which would have left Choi with a record. Choi was arrested in July 2010 after an extensive Canada Border Services Agency investigation that began more than a year earlier. The probe revealed six foreign workers from South Korea were employed at Kenko Niwa on Corydon Avenue, where Choi was paying them much less than others with work permits.

Several of the illegals told investigators they felt they would be sent back to their homeland if they complained about their working conditions. Harvie said Tuesday it’s clear Choi was manipulating and exploiting them. Choi immigrated to Canada from Korea in 2004.

The Crown called Choi’s conduct “predatory” and said courts must send a strong message of deterrence. Harvie said a formal conviction can still accomplish that.

Defence lawyer Ken Zaifman told court his client misunderstood his responsibilities based on bad advice from an immigration consulting firm.

Fight over parking spot leads to hammer attack in Mississauga
Published On Sun, 08 Apr 2012
Chantaie Allick
Staff Reporter

Peel police are looking for a suspect after a man was left injured from a hammer attack during a dispute over a parking spot.

The two men attempted to park in the same spot outside a TD bank in a strip mall on Central Parkway W. in Mississauga around 12:20 p.m. Saturday and wound up in an altercation. The victim, according to police, was left injured after a man driving a silver 2004 Honda CRV hit him with a hammer.

The hammer wielding suspect, who also had a male child in his vehicle, fled before police arrived on the scene.

Officers believe several witnesses may have seen what happened and recorded it on their cellphones.

The suspect is described as an Asian male, about 30 years old, roughly 5’3” tall with a medium build. He was wearing a beige jacket, a baseball cap, sunglasses and blue jeans.

Investigators from the 11 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau are asking anyone who may know the identity of the suspect to call (905) 453-2121, ext. 1133 or to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).