Skip to content

Financial whiz broke, plans to apply for legal aid

A man who once billed himself as a financial wizard and is accused of bilking investors out of millions of dollars is now broke.

TORONTO — A man who once billed himself as a financial wizard and is accused of bilking investors out of millions of dollars is now broke.

Weizhen Tang, a self-described “Chinese Warren Buffet,” will have to scrape together a “substantial sum” of money if he is granted bail, his lawyer said Thursday.

“He doesn’t have any money, so he’s applying for legal aid,” said Loftus Cuddy, as he stood outside a Toronto courtroom.

But Cuddy’s days of representing Tang are almost over.

Tang, 51, appeared to a packed courtroom on Thursday after returning to Canada to face allegations he defrauded investors of tens of millions of dollars. He will appear in court again Friday for a bail hearing.

Tang appeared weary Thursday but smiled as he stood in court dressed in a grey suit with his hands shoved in his pockets, nodding to the hordes of media gathered inside.

He was taken into custody Wednesday evening after his Air Canada flight arrived at Pearson International Airport. He made two brief court appearances Thursday while Crown and defence lawyers discussed when to schedule his bail hearing.

Cuddy said it would likely take a lot of money to get Tang released.