CITIC Bank files lawsuit in Canada to recover ill-gotten real estate assets

China CITIC Bank Corp has filed a lawsuit in Canada to try to seize the assets of a Chinese citizen who the bank claims took out a multimillion dollar loan in China and then fled to Canada, the lender's Vancouver-based lawyer said on Monday.

The bank is looking to seize numerous Vancouver-area homes, valued at C$7.3 million ($5.58 million), along with other assets, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver on Friday.

The defendant, Shibiao Yan, owns three multimillion-dollar properties in a Vancouver suburb and lives in a C$3 million Vancouver home owned by his wife, according to court documents.