Diplomat in China resigned before corruption investigation: Thought to have made millions

Noted & Quoted in: La Tribune, pg. A9

La Tribune

Federal officials would not comment on an embarrassing report which outlined two alleged corruption schemes at the Canadian embassy in Beijing.

"(He) has since resigned," Foreign Affairs spokesman Kimberly Phillips said of the official, who left the department last year.

"We cannot confirm or deny that an investigation is ongoing."

The key suspect is a Canadian of Chinese origin who was originally posted to the Canadian trade office in Shanghai in 1999 and later to the Immigration section of the Canadian embassy in Beijing in 2001, the Asian Pacific Post reports this week.

Phillips refused to identify the former diplomat or say what post he held or whether he has returned to Canada.

The former employee is suspected of tracking down applicants who had already been refused entry into Canada, meeting with them privately and offering to rubber-stamp their file in exchange for $10,000 to $20,000, the newspaper reported.

He is thought to have made well over a million dollars before he bolted a few days before his posting expired," the Post quoted one source as saying.