VANCOUVER, B.C. (CN) - The owner of two Buddhist relic stores threatened to use dead babies' souls to place a curse on a British Columbia man unless he handed over $90,000, the man claims in court.
Jian Liang Hu claims in B.C. Supreme Court that Han Xiao aka Steven Xiao dba Buddha Lounge and Fan Yin Ge sells "amulets, relics and imitation relics based on the Buddhist religion or based upon a form of ancestor worship practiced in China." According to the Oct. 16 lawsuit, the amulets come from Thailand after being blessed by monks and "purportedly contain finger nail clippings, hair, or other relics from dead babies and, according to the defendant, also contain ghosts from the dead babies' souls."
Between May and September this year, Jian claims Han requested $90,000 from him for a 35 percent stake in his Han Yin Ge business. Jian says he provided the money under threat of "the defendant using the souls of the baby ghosts in the possession or control of the defendant to curse the plaintiff if he did not provide the funds."
After paying up, Jian claims, Han used the money to maintain and improve his property and pay down a mortgage, but failed to account for or recognize Jian's stake in the business.
Jian claims that Han refused to repay the money, and also sold him 11 amulets for $34,000, which turned out to be "worthless."
Reached at his Han Yin Ge store in Richmond, B.C., Xiao refused to answer Courthouse News' questions, claiming he didn't speak English. He said to talk to his attorney, whom he did not identify.
Jian is represented by Mark B. Thompson in Richmond, B.C.
He wants his money back: $124,000.
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