Ontario jeweller accused in Ryan Wedding case challenges decision to deny him bail

TORONTO — An Ontario man accused of serving as the “de facto bank” for a violent criminal enterprise allegedly helmed by former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding is challenging a judge’s decision to deny him bail.

Ryan Sokolovski, a jeweller and former professional poker player, filed an application for judicial review last month, arguing the judge unfairly assessed some of his proposed sureties and mistakenly relied on “unsubstantiated allegations” from American authorities.

Sokolovski was among eight Canadians arrested last fall as part of a lengthy U.S. investigation into Wedding, and sought to be released ahead of his extradition hearing.

He is alleged to have played a key role in the international drug smuggling ring by laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in assets through his jewelry business and securing luxury items for Wedding, who was taken into U.S. custody earlier this year.

The 38-year-old’s legal team proposed to have him live with three of his four sureties if released on bail, under a series of conditions that included house arrest and 24/7 GPS monitoring.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden took no issue with the plan, but raised concerns about the reliability of both Sokolovski and his proposed sureties, finding Sokolovski had not been open with the court or his sureties about the origins of his income.

Bawden said Sokolovski’s evidence that his company earned little in profits despite revenues that surpassed $30 million per year was not credible, and that he tried to mislead the court with explanations for his finances that didn’t hold up to scrutiny.

Sokolovski also “successfully concealed” his financial situation from his sureties for years, the judge found.

None of the proposed sureties can be identified under a publication ban. The ban also prohibits the publication of their jobs and their relationship to Sokolovski.

In their filings, Sokolovski’s lawyers argue it was not “a fair reading of the evidence” to conclude their client hid his finances from his sureties, as the sureties testified they had not asked him for details on the matter.

They further argue Bawden erred in questioning the four people’s reliability and suitability as sureties based on what they knew of Sokolovski’s finances before they proposed to take on that role.

Sokolovski testified he earned a “substantial income” from poker, cryptocurrency and selling his personal watches for the bulk of a decade, they also argued.

Court heard he did not declare what he earned from poker or cryptocurrency to the Canada Revenue Agency because he believed it didn’t need to be reported for tax purposes.

“It was a misapprehension of the evidence to find that the income the applicant disclosed to the court could not possibly have funded the spending disclosed during his testimony … without him having engaged in money laundering,” the application reads.

Sokolovski’s lawyers also argue the judge relied on “unsubstantiated” claims found only in a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, including that he has access to ““tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and physical assets.”

“This caused him to inflate both the seriousness of the allegations against the applicant and the concerns about undisclosed assets,” they wrote.

Bawden found Sokolovski had not met his onus to show he doesn’t present a flight risk, nor did he present persuasive evidence that he doesn’t have access to large sums that could help him flee.

His lawyers, however, argue the judge didn’t give enough weight to the fact that Sokolovski had opportunities to flee before his arrest and didn’t take them, or that his proposed sureties pledged substantial amounts of money for his release.

A bail review hearing is scheduled later this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2016.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press