A woman offering to help supervise an Ontario man accused of laundering hundreds of millions in drug money if he is released on bail testified Tuesday that he didn’t tell her details about his business or the sources of his income.
The woman, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, took the stand in a Toronto courtroom on the second day of Rolan Sokolovski’s bail hearing.
Under questioning by prosecutors, the woman said she knew Sokolovski was a broker of luxury goods and owned a company called Diamond Tsar, but wasn’t sure exactly where he conducted his business, how much he earned per year or who his clients may have included.
“I understood the general nature of Rolan’s business,” the woman said.
Sokolovski is one of several Canadians arrested for extradition to the United States last fall as part of an investigation into Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian alleged to be at the top of a violent criminal organization that transported cocaine from Colombia to Canada through Mexico and the U.S.
Prosecutors allege Sokolovski played a key role in the drug trafficking ring and was responsible for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in assets including cryptocurrency and luxury goods. They allege he did so through his jewelry business.
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Court documents further allege Sokolovski made a “bejewelled necklace” that was given as a reward to an alleged hitman accused of giving Wedding information that helped facilitate the murder of a federal witness.
The woman, the first of Sokolovski’s proposed sureties to come before the court, said she first learned of the allegations against him after his arrest. Once the shock lessened, she sought out more information, reading media coverage and U.S. government websites, she said.
Asked whether the information caused her any concern, she said: “I think at this point, they’re just allegations.”
Crown attorneys delved into Sokolovski’s finances as he testified on Monday, pressing him on his tax reports and the financial statements of his jewelry business as well as the money he earned playing poker and trading cryptocurrency.
Also on Monday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden ruled to prohibit the publication of any information that could identify Sokolovski’s proposed sureties, including their relationship to him, in order to protect their safety.
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