A man accused of a grisly murder in the U.S. made his way to Canada as a refugee claimant under a false name and was a business owner in Toronto before being caught, CTV Toronto has learned.
Kai-Guo Huang, 35, was arrested after the murder and dismemberment of a man in Philadelphia that happened 14 years ago.
Huang was arrested Aug. 7 in Toronto on drunk-driving charges.
Fingerprints allowed police to lay the additional charge in connection to the Philadelphia murder.
Before his arrest, Huang was allegedly living a double life under the name Yu Chen, evading search efforts by the FBI.
Huang arrived in Canada from China as a refugee claimant in 2006. Using the fake name, he eventually became a permanent resident.
He owned a condo near Pharmacy and Finch, also under the fake name, where he lived and collected rent money from tenants.
“I never knew,” said tenant Joshua Zhang.
Other neighbours were also shocked to hear of the arrest.
“That's scary, to know that kind of person lives in the neighbourhood, so close by,” said neighbour Nina Injeyan.
Until December, Huang also owned a food warehouse business in Etobicoke.
Yih Wang, a former employee at Huang’s business, said he met Huang at church.
Huang never talked about his past or his life, Wang said.
“He was very quiet,” Wang said.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada does require fingerprints for some permanent residence applications, but it’s unclear whether Huang was asked to give fingerprints at the time he applied under the name Yu Chen.
Citizenship and Immigration and the Canada Border Services Agency did not return requests for comment.
With files from CTV Toronto’s Tamara Cherry
