A former RCMP officer charged with allegedly working with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to harm Canadian interests was released on bail Aug. 13 in Vancouver Provincial Court.
William Robert Majcher is charged with retaining or gaining access to information and preparation for commission of an offence. The charges are laid under the Federal Security of Information Act.
A Prosecution Service of Canada 2023 report said the case of R. v. William Robert Majcher is about a former RCMP inspector alleged to have been obtaining, with the help of others, information for the purpose of helping China to damage Canadian interests.
Court charge documents sworn Aug. 12 allege Majcher, between January 2014 and January 2019, worked with Kenneth Ingram Marsh and others in Vancouver and Hong Kong, and the PRC obtained, retained or gained access to information for the PRC.
One count covers that activity alleged for Majcher alone while a second involves conspiring with Marsh and others.
The clean-cut, silver-haired Majcher, 61, was in custody clad in red prison sweats when he appeared before Judge Eugene Jamieson Aug. 13 with veteran Vancouver defence lawyer Ian Donaldson.
The former Richmond school trustee was arrested in Vancouver in July 2023. RCMP in Quebec issued a statement at the time.
“The Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) launched an investigation in fall 2021 regarding William Majcher's suspicious activities,” the statement said. “It is alleged that he contributed to the Chinese government's efforts to identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law.”
A Quebec judge granted Majcher bail with an order for a $50,000 cash deposit with the court. Two people have also agreed to provide sureties with a deposit of an additional $200,000 as a guarantee that Majcher would respect release conditions. He was ordered to surrender his passport and report to RCMP every week.
He must also not apply for new travel documents and reside at an Ontario address.
That bail came to an end on Aug. 12 when Majcher was taken into custody, sources told Glacier Media.
Donaldson and federal Crown prosecutor Jonathan Langlois-Sadubin presented a bail conditions proposal to Jamieson. The judge imposed the same conditions.
Any information discussed in a bail hearing other than the result is covered by a publication ban to protect the accused's right to a fair trial.
RCMP work
As an RCMP member, Majcher was involved in some high-profile cases. Those included money laundering as well as the prosecution of Vancouver lawyer Martin Chambers, who was convicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, of laundering proceeds of crime and conspiracy to launder proceeds of crime. He was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in jail.
The Nova Scotia-born Majcher, whose father served in the navy and became a NATO representative for Canada, worked as a bond trader in London before he joined the Mounties in 1985.
Five years later, he was buying heroin and cocaine in the Downtown Eastside. At the time, the RCMP and Vancouver police had an amalgamated drug squad, allowing constables like Majcher to get a first-hand feel for drug work in the city.
“I really got my eyes opened to the realities and the dangers of policing in the Downtown Eastside,” he told the Courier in 2005. “I look back and I think a lot of the foundation for my undercover career was developed working with the Vancouver police.”
He later worked in the securities field, much of it in Hong Kong.
Project Norway
In one investigation dubbed Project Norway, Majcher worked long hours buying heroin from dozens of dealers. His act seemed to work, although one dealer believed Majcher might be a police informant and sucker punched him as he walked out of the Columbia Hotel.
His cover team was about to move in, but Majcher shoved the dealer and shouted at him until they both carried on down the street.
“I just bought heroin in the Columbia, and I walk out into a fist,” he said. “It could have easily been a bat or a knife. When you're dealing with that culture, the dealers are fairly low end, but the work is high-risk because the people who live in that environment live by the sword and die by the sword.”
The success of Project Norway, which led to the arrests of 120 people, was the beginning of a bright future for Majcher. His skills would see him work undercover in more drug cases, homicide investigations and dangerous organized crime probes.
His work took him across the country, into the United States, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. He once posed as a frontman for a Colombian drug cartel in a money laundering probe that landed Chambers in jail.
Majcher worked in Miami off and on for more than two years. To relieve tension, he would take long walks and read to keep his body and mind sharp.
The RCMP has a set of “checks and balances,” including psychological testing to scrutinize undercover officers' behaviour. Despite the roles he played, Majcher said he never lost sight of his job or who he was.
With files from Mike Howell
