An ex-RCMP officer accused of attempting to aid the People’s Republic of China in a foreign interference operation has been granted bail.
William “Bill” Majcher was charged last Thursday with two counts of violating Canada’s official secrets law, the Security of Information Act, allegedly to benefit the Chinese government between 2014 and 2019. Majcher is a retired Mountie who is currently based in Hong Kong after retiring from the force in 2007.
Few details are known about the case, but the RCMP told Global News on Friday that they believe it involved an operation to identify and intimidate someone on Canadian soil. The target of the alleged operation is not known.
Majcher has been detained in British Columbia since his arrest on last week, and the allegations have not been tested in court. Majcher’s release comes with several conditions, including surrendering his passport and posting $250,000 in bail, as well as weekly check-ins with the RCMP detachment in Burnaby, B.C.
Majcher’s lawyer, Ian Donaldson, said that his client intended to enter a plea of not guilty.
“The Security of Information Act is serious business … any offence in the act is serious and involves national security, but I won’t comment on the facts of the case,” Crown Attorney Marc Cigana told reporters outside a courtroom in Longueuil, Que., Tuesday.
Donaldson’s office said he was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
Majcher also must refrain from speaking with Kim Marsh, another former senior RCMP officer named as a co-conspirator in Majcher’s alleged activity. Global News first reported Marsh’s connection to Majcher on Tuesday.
Marsh, who commanded an RCMP international organized crime unit before retiring and working as a private investigator, declined to comment when reached by Global News Monday.
But in an interview with online outlet The Bureau published July 14, Marsh suggested he had been “lumped in” with Majcher’s case and that he had come to the “attention” of law enforcement.
“I think that the focus of the investigation is to stop and investigate what the Chinese are doing here … There’s no doubt they are coercing Chinese nationals who are here either as citizens or permanent residents. And they have, along the way, been assisted by private investigators,” Marsh is quoted as saying.
“I believe, and others maybe, who have access to sensitive information, believe that’s the focus of the investigation. And somehow I’ve been lumped into this … which is pretty frustrating.”
With a file from Gloria Henriquez.