Local winemaker under arrest in China accused of booze smuggling
Posted July 22, 2016 4:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – A prominent local winemaker is under arrest in China, accused of smuggling tens of millions of dollars worth of booze into that country.
John Chang is the owner of Lulu Island Winery in Richmond.
He’s well known for his winemaking, and even travelled with former Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a trip to China in 2014.
“He’s in the process of opening, and in fact it may have opened, Grizzly here in Kelowna,” says Miles Prodan, chief executive of the BC Wine Institute. “I certainly know of his wines and his wineries, and it’s most unfortunate to hear about [his arrest].”
Chang’s charges are outlined in a Chinese state media report — he’s accused of smuggling nearly 60 million dollars worth of wine and icewine into that country.
“All I know is what I’ve read in the papers,” says John Yap, parliamentary secretary for liquor policy reform, when asked about Chang’s arrest. “We’d be interested in learning more as facts emerge.”
Specifically, Chang is accused of falsifying customs forms.
