A second former senior Mountie is allegedly caught up in an investigation into Chinese interference operations in Canada.
Kenneth Ingram Marsh, a B.C.-based private investigator and former commander of an RCMP international organized crime unit, has been named as a co-conspirator in the allegations along with former Mountie William “Bill” Majcher.
Few specifics about the case are known, but it allegedly involved the targeting of an individual for intimidation on Canadian soil. On Friday, the Canadian Press named Marsh as a second man involved in the case based on Majcher’s charge sheet, but did not identify him as a retired Mountie.
Marsh, who is also known as Kim Marsh, declined to comment when reached by Global News on Monday. Marsh has not been charged, and the allegations against Majcher and Marsh have not been tested in court.
“I’m sorry, I can’t talk to you. You must understand that, I’m unable to talk. Thank you,” Marsh said before hanging up the phone.
Marsh hung up before Global News could explain the reason for the call, and did not respond to multiple subsequent detailed requests for comment.
Majcher, a retired RCMP investigator, was charged on Thursday with two counts of breaching the Security of Information Act — Canada’s official secrets law. According to the Mounties, Majcher “used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People’s Republic of China.”
“Both of these acts were, in our perspective, committed to contribute to the Chinese government efforts to identify and intimidate an individual,” said Insp. David Beaudoin, with the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), in an interview with Global on Friday.
The name of the alleged target of the intimidation operation is not yet known. While much attention in recent months has been devoted to foreign interference in Canada’s politics, hostile foreign powers have been repeatedly accused of attempting to intimidate and coerce diaspora populations in Canada for years.
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Asked to confirm that the Kenneth Marsh named in the allegations was a former Mountie, a spokesperson for the RCMP’s Quebec division declined to comment.
“Although charges were laid on July 20 in this file, there is an ongoing investigation. In that regard, we currently cannot disclose any details with regards to other subjects,” wrote Cpl. Tasha Adams in a statement to Global News.
Marsh and Majcher have worked together multiple times after they left the national police force, according to Marsh’s memoir that refers to Majcher as his “Mountie friend.”
The allegations against Majcher stem from 2014 to 2019. Majcher retired from the RCMP in 2007, while Marsh retired in 1999.
The 60-year-old Majcher, who is based in Hong Kong, appeared in a Quebec court virtually Friday to face charges of one count of conspiracy and one count of “preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity.”
In his 2022 memoir, Cunning Edge, Marsh refers to Majcher as a “Mountie friend” who worked with him on an “enjoyable caper” tracking down a Canadians’ assets in Costa Rica. Marsh wrote that after Majcher left the RCMP, he worked for a financial firm in Hong Kong that “put deals together and took companies public.”
Subtitled “A 45-year Journey Conducting Global Undercover Investigations,” Marsh’s book explains how Majcher hooked him up with Russian millionaire Vladimir Antonov, who at the time was attempting to purchase Saab from General Motors. Marsh said he produced a “due diligence” report for Antonov into “all his holdings and people” at a cost of $500,000 for Marsh’s company, but stopped working with Antonov after the report was submitted.
In 2011, Antonov and a business partner were charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank they controlled in Lithuania. Antonov was later found guilty of bank fraud charges in Russia and was sentenced more than two years in jail.
“The last time I met with Antonov was in London in early 2012. He still had his sense of humour, relating the following to me: on the day of his arrest, he had flown into the UK and was clearing customs when he learned about his problems in Lithuania,” Marsh wrote.
“He said ‘I went from my private plane to my private cell.’ That made us both chuckle.”
Marsh’s memoir stated that he and Majcher worked another “caper” together in 2013 while Marsh was on the hunt for funds smuggled out of Libya by the family of former dictator General Muammar Gaddafi.
“Fortuitously, Majcher had been dealing with an Ivory Coast national on a deal … This was the perfect scenario, as Majcher would need a visa, which would be facilitated by his business associate,” Marsh wrote.
“While there, Majcher would be my second set of eyes and ears.”
Speaking to the online outlet The Bureau last week, Marsh alluded to the possibility of becoming enmeshed in the case, saying he has come to the “attention” of a law enforcement investigation into Chinese interference.
“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.”
When asked if Marsh was saying he did nothing wrong, Marsh responded that he thinks he’s “a good Canadian citizen.”
“I think that if Canadians knew the whole story that they would be aghast,” Marsh is quoted as saying.
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