MONTREAL — A retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer was accused on Friday of gathering information for China’s benefit. In particular, he is said to have helped the Chinese government identify and intimidate an individual.

William Majcher, 60, was arrested in Vancouver on Thursday and appeared via video conference at the Longueuil courthouse on Friday.

He faces two charges: preparatory action on behalf of a foreign entity and conspiracy.

According to police, the Hong Kong man used his network of contacts in Canada to seek information or services that benefited the People’s Republic of China. However, this file was not related to the investigation into election interference.

“The evidence leads us to believe that his professional activities in Canadian territory would have enabled him to gather information to identify and intimidate a person targeted by the People’s Republic of China,” Corporal Tasha Adams said via email.

A LinkedIn profile on behalf of Mr. Majcher reveals that the man most recently worked in financial investments in Hong Kong at EMIDR Limited, a company he co-founded that provides expertise in money laundering and financial crime risks.

In his profile, he boasted of having worked undercover on “North America’s largest money laundering and securities fraud investigation,” citing his role as lead investigator in the case of British Columbia attorney Martin Chambers, who was sentenced to 15 years in US prison for money laundering in 2003.

Majcher’s LinkedIn also said he helped train Canada’s National Security Enforcement Team. The same team launched an investigation into Mr Majcher’s suspicious activities in the fall of 2021, the RCMP announced in its press release on Friday.

The federal police did not clarify who the target of Beijing’s alleged intimidation campaign in which the former police officer is said to have been involved.

Mr Majcher was employed by the RCMP from 1985 to 2007.