American investigators have identified the addresses of the properties in Richmond as being located at 6171 Udy Road, 6160 Udy Road and 6620 Mang Road.

In addition, the group also purchased huge amounts of jewellery, expensive watches and gold figurines, all of which are now being seized by the American authorities.

This month, after more than five years since the scandal which damaged communist China’s banking system was made public, a grand jury in Las Vegas indicted two men, their wives and the fugitive brother of one of the wives with 15 counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud.

Bank managers Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun tried to launder the stolen money through Hong Kong, Canada, the United States and other countries in a scheme that began in 1991 and continued until 2004, when they were arrested, a US Department of Justice statement said.

The two men created shell corporations in Hong Kong and funnelled Bank of China’s money into the fake firms and into numerous personal bank and investment accounts, it said.

They used casinos in Macau and Las Vegas to facilitate their operations.

The two bankers then tried to emigrate to the US from China with their wives, Kuang Wanfang and Yu Yingyi, by obtaining false identities and entering into sham marriages with naturalized US citizens, it said.

Kuang and Yu were accused of helping their husbands launder the proceeds, including channelling it through Las Vegas casino accounts.

They also violated immigration laws by entering the country illegally and then securing US passports through fraudulent means, the Department of Justice said.

The indictment alleges that Kuang’s brother, who remains a fugitive, helped the four culprits to move the money around.

A lawyer for one of the accused said the ex-bankers and their wives were pawns in a U.S. effort to cooperate with China in financial and criminal investigations.

A third former manager of the Bank of China, Yu Zhendong was handed over to Chinese authorities in Beijing last year after pleading guilty to racketeering charges in a court in Las Vegas.

It was on condition that he not be tortured or put to death.

The handover of Yu was highly unusual for the U.S. and China, which have no extradition treaty but are trying to improve co-operation between their law-enforcement agencies.

Yu Zhendong’s true wife, Yu Xuhui, pleaded guilty to unlawfully procuring US citizenship in April last year, said the statement.

She has agreed to relinquish her US citizenship, but will be permitted to remain in the United States with the couple’s children so long as she does not commit another crime.

Yu Zhendong’s fake American wife, Shanna Yu Ma, pleaded guilty to submitting a false statement in support of Yu Xuhui’s application for naturalization.

Her sentencing has also been delayed while she helps the investigation.

"Investigators were able to piece together the complex scheme of racketeering, money laundering and fraud charged in this indictment because of the extensive cooperation we received from our law enforcement partners overseas," said US Assistant Attorney General Fisher.

"We will continue to work closely with our international partners to make sure that the United States is never seen as a haven for criminals to launder the proceeds of their illegal conduct."

The elaborate scheme to move money out of China by the group of bankers has also been linked to the Macau operations of Asia’s gambling czar, Stanley Ho.

Prosecutors in Hong Kong who are handling the Bank of China scandal say at least US$1.4 million (C$1.6 million) of allegedly embezzled funds by one of those indicted this month in Las Vegas was illegally moved in the form of an STDM cheque.

STDM or Sociedad de Tourism e Diversoes de Macau is Ho‘s multibillion-dollar gaming flagship operation which operates the casino at the famous Hotel Lisboa.

The casino king, who is best known in B.C. for the ugly mansion at the entrance of Stanley Park in Vancouver and whose influential connections include several top Canadian politicians, is no stranger to controversy.

He has tried several times through his daughters Pansy and Daisy to apply for casino licences in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

DrHo.com is based in Antigua with technology designed by Vancouver-based Eyeball.com Network Inc. Gamblers play poker, blackjack, roulette and a host of other games in real time with live dealers.

Asian organized crime sources told The Asian Pacific Post that Ho and his connections are listed in numerous classified intelligence files, including a RCMP Asian Organized Crime Roster.

Ho has vehemently and consistently denied any connections to organized crime.

In the United States, a report prepared for the Department of Justice by Philip Baridon listed Ho as one of 27 people linked to Asian organized crime who are on an American watchlist. Ho‘s name was removed after his lawyers visited with the Department of Justice.

Unlike Canada or the United States, Ho has never been able to make much headway into Australia because of extensive Australian Security Intelligence Organisation reports on his background, connections and links.

The New South Wales Gaming Licensing Board (now defunct) has a report on Ho which is stamped "never to be released. "

Its officials have deemed Ho "an unsuitable person to hold a casino licence."