RCMP national security officers were waiting for William Majcher when his flight from Hong Kong landed at Vancouver International Airport on July 18, 2023.<\/p>\n
Inside an airport interview room, they questioned the previous Mountie for five hours, and after they were done, Majcher said he still wasn\u2019t sure what it was about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say it was well articulated,\u201d Majcher told Global News in an exclusive interview, his first since his high-profile espionage trial ended last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of it made sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
On May 13, a B.C. judge agreed, acquitting Majcher of a charge alleging he was a part of a Chinese government foreign interference operation.<\/p>\n
What began with sensational claims \u2014 that Majcher was helping Beijing secretly extend its long reach into Canada \u2014 ended with a whimper.<\/p>\n
And as Prime Minister Mark Carney courts Beijing amid a U.S. trade war, the botched case has raised questions on the strength of Canada\u2019s defences against China.<\/p>\n
The investigation targeted former cops whom the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP suspected were offering their services to Beijing.<\/p>\n
It revolved around Majcher, a former RCMP inspector who left the national police force in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong to work in banking and personal security.<\/p>\n
As a retired Mountie in business in Hong Kong, Majcher said he thought he had done every part possible to maintain on the fitting side of Canada\u2019s laws and interests.<\/p>\n
While he took jobs from Chinese state-owned enterprises, he said he never knowingly worked for the Chinese state, its public security bureau or police.<\/p>\n
He helped CSIS when asked, and made sure the agency knew what he was as much as. When he returned to Canada on business, he disclosed his work to frame officials.<\/p>\n
His candour, nonetheless, worked against him.<\/p>\n
Amid politically damaging allegations in Ottawa about Chinese foreign interference, Majcher was branded a Chinese asset and a threat to Canada.<\/p>\n
He became one in every of the few ever arrested over allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian affairs. However the case left a key query unresolved: what’s foreign interference?<\/p>\n
With the trial now behind him, Majcher told Global News he believes the RCMP and CSIS are right to be nervous in regards to the activities of foreign governments, whether China or India. But as a veteran RCMP officer, he expected higher from Canada\u2019s national security system, and said the case raised broader concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada must be very concerned that that is the extent of investigative quality that we will expect from our national police force in something as vital as national security,\u201d Majcher said.<\/p>\n
He said Canada needs competent intelligence and law enforcement. \u201cAnd from where I sit, we’ve got neither. That’s the biggest national security threat facing Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
CSIS declined to comment. The RCMP said in a press release that it will be reviewing the court\u2019s decision on Majcher. Last week, federal prosecutors appealed Majcher\u2019s acquittal.<\/p>\n
But hundreds of pages of documents reviewed by Global News show how a serious investigation involving at the very least three federal departments and almost 80 search warrants got here up short.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tFormer RCMP officer William Majcher, during interview with Global News following acquittal on allegations he was Chinese foreign interference agent.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
An authority in financial crimes, Majcher joined the RCMP in 1985 and went undercover inside drug cartels, posing as a banker who could launder their profits.<\/p>\n
He retired in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong to work for a merchant bank, after which an investment fund, before starting his own firm, EMIDR, in 2015.<\/p>\n
A cybersecurity company, EMIDR got involved in asset recovery when a client asked Majcher to trace thousands and thousands stolen in a Bitcoin hack, he said.<\/p>\n
As a former police officer who had segued into private security, he exchanged details about stolen assets with colleagues on the identical profession path, nevertheless it wasn\u2019t an enormous a part of his business, he said.<\/p>\n
Mostly, he provided procurement, logistics and advisory services, helping banks and governments understand financial crime. \u201cI\u2019m a Jack-of-all-trades sort of guy,\u201d he told the RCMP following his arrest.<\/p>\n
![\"William](\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/william-majcher-rcmp-officer.jpeg?quality=65&strip=all&w=240\")
<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\tWilliam Majcher at RCMP training depot, Regina, 1986.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Majcher also did more secretive work. In 2011,\u00a0CSIS approached him for assist in Asia, in accordance with a 13-page document he wrote that became a part of the RCMP\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n
A covert operations officer asked Majcher if he could arrange weapons caches for moving sidearms across borders for the agency, the document said.<\/p>\n
Majcher thought it was possible and suggested a location on the Indian Ocean, possibly Sri Lanka, but CSIS didn’t raise the subject again.<\/p>\n
A couple of months later, Canadian intelligence contacted him again, the document said, this time about inserting CSIS personnel into Hong Kong businesses.<\/p>\n
The officer asked if Majcher would consider employing CSIS operatives to bolster their cover stories, in accordance with the document.<\/p>\n
But CSIS decided it didn\u2019t have anyone qualified, and recruited Majcher for the job, which involved getting near Chinese targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to be prepared to do my part,\u201d Majcher wrote.<\/p>\n
He met his CSIS handler in\u00a0Canada and\u00a0was later introduced to the British secret intelligence service, MI-6, which was a part of the joint operation, he said.<\/p>\n
In Bangkok, Majcher was given a secure laptop and a briefing on the targets CSIS considered \u201chigh value,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
The project wound down after lower than two years, in accordance with the document, and CSIS paid him in money, delivered in an envelope.<\/p>\n
Majcher said he had similarly helped other members of the Five Eyes alliance, which\u00a0includes not only Canada but additionally the U.K., U.S., Australia and Latest Zealand.<\/p>\n
CSIS declined to comment on whether Majcher had worked for the agency. But an RCMP report said his account suggested he could have been a CSIS asset between 2011 and 2015.<\/p>\n
By the top 2018, the report continued, he was \u201cpossibly considered a \u2018threat\u2019 to the safety of Canada as a result of his involvement within the case of Meng Wanzhou.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tWill Majcher in Beijing with delegation from Qatar, 2012.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
A top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, Meng was taken into custody as she transited through Vancouver airport on Dec. 1, 2018.<\/p>\n
The US had issued a warrant for her arrest over her alleged dealings with Iran, and Canada held her for extradition.<\/p>\n
As China ramped up pressure on Ottawa to release her, Majcher was contacted by Anbound, a Beijing think tank, in regards to the Meng affair.<\/p>\n
Anbound wanted him to travel to Vancouver and write a report on legal strategies surrounding Meng\u2019s extradition. \u201cIt was very basic,\u201d Majcher said.<\/p>\n
But then China raised the stakes by arresting two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who became bargaining chips for Meng\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so I said, OK, that is getting a bit more sensitive,\u201d Majcher told Global News. \u201cSo I made an effort to notify the Canadian government, CSIS specifically, that I used to be coming to Canada and what it was about and if you desire to refer to me, I\u2019m available.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because Thailand had been his contact point with CSIS prior to now, he went to the Canadian embassy and told the CSIS officer in regards to the Anbound task, and his suspicion the Chinese government could be behind it.<\/p>\n
He said he can be flying to Vancouver to meet the\u00a0contract and\u00a0was willing to make use of the chance to resume working for CSIS.<\/p>\n
However the agency didn\u2019t take up his offer, nor did it raise any concerns in regards to the Anbound work, he said, so he flew to Vancouver on Jan. 19, 2019.<\/p>\n
Apparently flagged by CSIS prior to his arrival, he was questioned by the CBSA and again explained that he was working for a Chinese entity on the Meng case.<\/p>\n
In accordance with the CBSA report on his interview, Majcher \u201crevealed that he was asked by the Chinese government to return to refer to some Canadian government officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe also stated that a part of the rationale for his trip is due to the Huawei executive that was arrested in Vancouver,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stated that the Chinese government had consulted him in regards to the situation and court process and the general situation. The topic stated that he has close ties to the Chinese government and that they’re fully aware of his past occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Majcher told Global News the CBSA report was incorrect, and the officer\u2019s notes don’t make the identical allegations. He said he never said he was working for the Chinese government, and had never knowingly done so.<\/p>\n
A search of his bags turned up nothing, and Majcher was allowed to proceed, however the trip, along with a visit to Toronto in May, appears to have made him a goal.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tFormer RCMP officer William Majcher speaks to British House of Lords cybersecurity group, February 2019.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
On March 9, 2022, CSIS issued an Espionage Alert that called Majcher a major \u201cthreat to Canada and Canadian national interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s working as an asset of hostile intelligence threat actors within the People\u2019s Republic of China,\u201d the government-wide bulletin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajcher continues to undertake intelligence-gathering activities in Canada on behalf of the PRC including by leveraging contacts inside Canada,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
CSIS had made him\u00a0out\u00a0to be \u201cCanada\u2019s Kim Philby,\u201d\u00a0Majcher\u00a0said, referring to the notorious British intelligence officer who became a Soviet double agent.<\/p>\n
But Majcher said he had done every part conceivable to remain on the fitting side of Canadian national security agencies, ensuring they were informed of his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd all I did was put a bullseye on my back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The investigation also dragged in Majcher\u2019s Canadian contacts, notably RCMP officer Peter Merrifield and Paul McNamara, a former Vancouver police officer who had moved to the private sector.<\/p>\n
Merrifield said he suddenly found himself under investigation consequently of false intelligence and lost his top secret security clearance, although he was ultimately exonerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case represents essentially the most egregious example of \u2018proceed by confirmation bias\u2019 of a national security investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a transparent warning shot to Canada of the shortage of capability in Canada\u2019s national security agencies and infrastructure to separate and filter information from targeted disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNamara had worked with Majcher when each were cops, and although they kept in contact through the years, he said they’d no business relationship.<\/p>\n
But investigators noted that when Majcher had visited Vancouver to write down his report on Meng, he had met with McNamara.<\/p>\n
McNamara worked for VXL Enterprise, an organization that protects U.S. diplomatic posts in Canada, but his security clearance was revoked in 2021 and he lost his job.<\/p>\n
He blamed CSIS for turning his friendship with Majcher and his own 2019 visit to China to purchase a training pool for his daughter, a competitive swimmer, right into a conspiracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey fully believed that Majcher had this in-depth, evil network of cops working for him on the behest of China,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s absolute garbage,\u201d he said. \u201cThey mainly send what they think is that this big espionage file involving Meng Wanzhou to the RCMP on Sept. 14th, 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tRCMP officers interview witness during Project Severo investigation into William Majcher.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Foreign interference was emerging as a top priority for the federal government when the RCMP took an interest in Majcher, amid reports of Beijing\u2019s tampering in Canadian life and politics.<\/p>\n
Drowning in corruption, China launched Operation Fox Hunt to stage a show of tracking down alleged economic criminals who had fled abroad with money.<\/p>\n
To persuade them to return to confess their guilt, Chinese security agencies resorted to harassment, threats and even kidnapping. CSIS suspected China was hiring lawyers and personal investigators to trace down a few of them in western countries.<\/p>\n
But Fox Hunt also used its anti-corruption drive as a canopy for silencing dissidents within the diaspora<\/a> in Canada and elsewhere, in addition to to reveal that China\u2019s reach had no limits.<\/p>\n China\u2019s actions were an affront to Canada\u2019s sovereignty, and the RCMP was chargeable for stopping them, however the victims were reluctant to return forward. After which the RCMP learned that CSIS was investigating a retired Mountie.<\/p>\n Based on a tip from CSIS, the RCMP launched Project Severo in 2021 to analyze Majcher\u2019s alleged activities on behalf of the Chinese state.<\/p>\n Particularly, CSIS pointed the RCMP to an Australian television documentary on Operation Fox Hunt wherein Majcher had appeared.<\/p>\n The documentary was a few Hong Kong company that had hired former law enforcement officials to recuperate assets allegedly stolen from China.<\/p>\n In the published, Majcher called himself \u201ca hired gun\u201d who helped corporations and governments \u201cget back what’s rightfully theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n Matcher told Global News he was playing for the cameras. \u201cI can actually get acting credits for those things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said he knew the best way to \u201cpolish the apple\u201d to make a story more entertaining, but denied any involvement within the cases featured within the documentary.<\/p>\n To the RCMP\u2019s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Quebec, nonetheless, the video was the place to begin for an investigation.<\/p>\n The RCMP felt that Majcher\u2019s years of service to Canada\u2019s national police force had left him \u201ca well-suited candidate\u201d for China.<\/p>\n \u201cMajcher had and has an intensive network of contacts inside the law enforcement and national security community,\u201d the RCMP wrote.<\/p>\n In a memo marked Secret, the RCMP\u2019s Foreign Actor Interference Team noted that Majcher also had \u201congoing contact with RCMP members.\u201d<\/p>\n Those contacts \u201cmay wittingly or unwittingly\u201d be providing assistance to Majcher\u2019s \u201cillegitimate and bonafide support of the objectives of the PRC,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe activities of Majcher are a threat to the sovereignty of Canada,\u201d the RCMP wrote. \u201cProject Severo goals to analyze and neutralize that threat.\u201d<\/p>\n To get search warrants, police told a Quebec judge they needed to seize Majcher\u2019s communications because he reported to China\u2019s Public Security Bureau.<\/p>\n The RCMP also obtained warrants from the federal court to look the phone records of other former cops, including McNamara, dating back to 2014, the 12 months Fox Hunt began.<\/p>\n \u201cMajcher is well-connected to the Chinese government,\u201d the RCMP told the judge. \u201cHe has close ties with the Chinese government\u201d and works at its \u201cbehest.\u201d<\/p>\n Majcher called those\u00a0statements\u00a0\u201cutterly false.\u201d<\/p>\n The warrants show how the main target of the investigation had shifted from the Meng affair to Majcher\u2019s supposed role in Operation Fox Hunt.<\/p>\n They noted that in 2017, Majcher had told a colleague in an email that he was involved in negotiations with China to recuperate money from someone wanted by China.<\/p>\n If the unnamed \u201cgoal\u201d didn’t cooperate, there can be an extradition request, he wrote, but \u201cwe feel he’s motivated \u2026 as we will guarantee him his passport and no jail time.\u201d<\/p>\n Majcher told Global News he was working with a lawyer to find out whether anyone had a court claim against the suspect. Once they realized no such court proceedings had been initiated, they dropped it, he said.<\/p>\n A 12 months into the investigation, the RCMP received a 13-page report Majcher had written that spelled out his work for CSIS. Majcher had given it to Merrifield, a serving RCMP officer, who gave it to the investigation team.<\/p>\n The event \u201ccould have detrimental effects on the present investigation,\u201d the RCMP wrote in a top secret report that said police needed to make clear with CSIS whether Majcher had indeed worked for the agency.<\/p>\n \u201cThese questions, if left unanswered, ultimately threaten the RCMP\u2019s ongoing investigation into Majcher,\u201d the RCMP report said.<\/p>\n Whether CSIS responded shouldn’t be explained within the documents. Former CSIS executive Dan Stanton said he found Majcher\u2019s account hard to consider.<\/p>\n \u201cThe speak about gun caches in another country, and terminology like assets. That\u2019s sort of a Hollywood word. It just seems a bit incredible to me.\u201d<\/p>\n However the documents show that on July 15, 2023, the RCMP learned that Majcher was coming to Canada and decided to arrest him.<\/p>\n The choice was prompted partly by concerns that news of\u00a0the investigation\u00a0was starting to spread. Majcher himself had already got wind of it from a news reporter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arrest of Majcher will make sure that public interest is upheld,\u201d the RCMP wrote in its decision, adding it will also put an end to\u00a0 \u201cthe continuing conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Within the interview conducted after Majcher\u2019s arrest, the officer talked about Operation Fox Hunt and said that a few of those targeted were in Canada.<\/p>\n He mentioned the Australian documentary about Fox Hunt targets who were threatened, and said, \u201cWe consider the identical is occurring here in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour name got here up for just a few incidents,\u201d the officer said. \u201cDo we’ve got the accurate\u00a0information,\u00a0or\u00a0are we just being fed the improper information?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI even have not done anything illegal,\u201d Majcher responded.<\/p>\n The RCMP interviews were a \u201cfishing trip,\u201d Majcher told Global News. Names like Meng Wanzhou were mentioned, nevertheless it was vague and disconnected.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018We\u2019re hearing things, we\u2019re picking up on some things.\u2019 \u2018OK, well, why don\u2019t you tell me then what specifically you\u2019re fascinated about?\u2019\u201d he said, describing the conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I asked repeatedly, \u2018Are you able to explain to me what are the weather of the offence? I mean, I\u2019m just not understanding what you think that I\u2019ve done,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAll of the investigator would do is just read the charge.\u201d<\/p>\n The fees alleged that Majcher had been a part of an effort to compel a Fox Hunt goal, Kevin Sun, to return to China in 2017.<\/p>\n Beijing had accused Sun of moving to Canada with tens of thousands and thousands he had allegedly pilfered from the Industrial Business Bank of China.<\/p>\n The RCMP theory was that Chinese authorities had sent Majcher to Vancouver to \u201cdiscover and intimidate\u201d Sun so he would return to China.<\/p>\n Majcher denies that and told Global News he had never once worked for China. \u201cI even have no relationship, no direct relationship. Never have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do know individuals who say they know people. I mean, it\u2019s the old daisy chain,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not hiding anything. I told the reality.<\/p>\n \u201cThey usually selected to disregard it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n The trial was already falling apart by the point it began in April. The B.C. courts had ruled that Majcher\u2019s arrest was illegal because it was based on nothing greater than a \u201chunch.\u201d<\/p>\n The court also tossed out the outcomes of the search of the house\u00a0of\u00a0one in every of Majcher\u2019s associates, Kim Marsh, a former RCMP officer along with his own security business, because police had no evidence\u00a0that\u00a0any crime was committed.<\/p>\n The prosecution got here all the way down to a single email. The Crown closed its case after just two days.\u00a0The defence\u00a0argued Majcher had done every part by the book.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tRCMP officer, left, in interview room during questioning of William Majcher, Richmond, B.C., July 18, 2023.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tFormer RCMP officer William Majcher leaves B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, April 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n