Potential sureties for Ryan Wedding’s alleged cash launderer questioned on his lavish life-style

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Two proposed sureties for a jeweller accused within the United States of laundering cash for an allegedly violent, worldwide cocaine smuggling ring instructed a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday that they have been unaware of how he paid for what prosecutors described as his prosperous life-style.

Rolan Sokolovski, 37, has been in jail since November, going through extradition to the United States on costs he helped launder tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} for a drug-trafficking community allegedly run by former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. He’s amongst eight individuals in Canada charged in connection to their alleged ties to Mr. Wedding, together with Toronto-area lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who’s accused of advising the group on the killing of a police informant.

At a bail listening to in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday, federal Crown legal professional Milica Potrebic pressed two of Mr. Sokolovski’s proposed sureties about their information of the Toronto-area jeweller’s funds and enterprise – together with how he might afford a Porsche SUV, a brand new $4-million house, money items for his girlfriend and journeys to the Bahamas and the Pacific island of Bora Bora, and but declare zero private revenue or any wage from his enterprise, Diamond Tsar.

“How does that person sustain his livelihood? Where does that person get any money from?” Ms. Potrebic stated. “Help us understand this.”

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The identities of the sureties, together with their relationship to Mr. Sokolovski, are protected by a publication ban granted after defence lawyer Scott Fenton argued their security is in danger, given the violence allegedly linked to Mr. Wedding’s drug-trafficking group.

In testimony, each proposed sureties repeatedly instructed Ms. Potrebic they both didn’t find out about or couldn’t bear in mind particulars of any conversations with the jeweller about his funds. They stated the jeweller was identified to be beneficiant, however they’d by no means acquired any items from him. One of the allegations from U.S. investigators is that Mr. Sokolovski paid an alleged Montreal hitman with a “bejewelled necklace” for his position in orchestrating the killing final 12 months in Colombia of a witness for the FBI who was anticipated to testify towards Mr. Wedding.

After their testimony, Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden adjourned the bail listening to, and requested the Crown and defence lawyer to return Jan. 21 for submissions.

None of the allegations towards Mr. Sokolovski have been confirmed in courtroom. One of his attorneys, Michelle Psutka, instructed the courtroom on Tuesday that the allegations towards her consumer weren’t the topic of the bail listening to and that a number of the U.S. info was “false.”

FBI seized cellphone with messages between jeweller, alleged Ryan Wedding drug ring, courtroom paperwork present

Prosecutors are opposing Mr. Sokolovski’s launch, arguing he ought to stay in custody to guard the general public and that he poses a flight threat. He is pledging to publish $2-million in bail.

In the witness field, each sureties stated they’d no direct understanding of the place Mr. Sokolovski’s cash got here from. One of them advised his wealth might have come from financial institution loans borrowed towards his jewelry property or from taking part in poker. Both dismissed the U.S. costs that the jeweller performed a key position in a violent group as merely allegations.

One of the sureties argued there are methods to measure an organization’s success apart from its financials, and advised Mr. Sokolovski’s tax returns and his enterprise’s books don’t account for outdoor sources of revenue, similar to playing income.

Mr. Sokolovski instructed the courtroom on Monday he purchased his $4-million house utilizing a down cost of $1.7-million that got here from financial savings, cash from buying and selling cryptocurrency, and about $500,000 from his firm’s retained earnings. He testified that he didn’t declare tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} he made in cryptocurrency on his tax returns and was unaware of guidelines requiring him to take action.

U.S. prosecutors declare he used cryptocurrencies to assist handle and launder hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in proceeds from Mr. Wedding’s alleged felony enterprise. In his bail listening to, Mr. Sokolovski, who was born in Lithuania and got here to Canada as a younger baby, testified he started investing in cryptocurrencies about seven years in the past and has at occasions made tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} in single transactions.