Sophon Sek, winner of this year’s British Columbia Poker Championships, has been arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering in connection with the notorious Surrey Six slayings.
The poker player bested a field of 679 runners last Sunday to capture the $364,364 CDN first prize, but before he could even collect his winnings from Richmond’s River Rock Casino, he was arrested by Canadian police the following morning.
The charges relate to an incidence of brutal gang violence in 2007, where six people were killed in the Balmoral Tower high-rise in Surrey, British Columbia, and Sek now becomes the sixth person to be arrested in connection with the slayings.
Four of the other five suspects are facing charges of first-degree murder, while the 30-year-old Sek has been warned that he could face additional counts, according to Dale Carr of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Howard Blank, vice-president of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, was still waiting for Sek to return and collect his winnings when police called and informed him of the 2009 champion’s arrest on Monday.
“The RCMP has informed us it is the same person who won our tournament and the RCMP has requested that the funds be held for his winnings, so the funds have not been issued to the winner,” Blank told the Vancouver Sun.
Sek will now be held in police custody until his trial continues on 30 November. |
