A research scientist known for his cropping systems research and extension work with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) will have his first court appearance in Swift Current on December 13 following a major RCMP investigation that resulted in his arrest more than two years ago.
Yantai Gan was arrested on November 19, 2019 following a nearly two year long investigation led by the RCMP’s National Security Enforcement Section, say the RCMP, in a news release issued December 10, 2021.
The RCMP say they also conducted search warrants at AAFC’s Swift Current research centre and the 65-year-old Gan’s home in Swift Current on the day he was arrested in 2019.
It’s unclear why it took the RCMP more than two years to issue the notice about his arrest.
While the police have provided little detail on the alleged crimes, Gan is facing the following charges:
- Breach of Trust by Public Officer contrary to Section 122 Criminal Code
- Fraud over $5,000 contrary to Section 380 of the Criminal Code
- Possession of Proceeds of Crime over $5,000 contrary to Section 354 of the Criminal Code
According to the RCMP website, National Security Enforcement Section teams “undertake national security criminal investigations into terrorist activities as needed in the antiterrorism provisions of the Criminal Code as well as any occurrence arising out of a threat to the security of Canada, under the Security Offenses Act.”
Gan is slated to make his next court appearance in Swift Current Provincial Court on December 13 at 9:30 a.m.
The RCMP says it will not provide further comment since the matter is before the courts.
Gan is well-known for his work on diversifying crop rotations and the impact of alternative crops with AAFC in Swift Current, and was a regular presenter at farm meetings and in agricultural media. He’s been listed as an author for more than 340 scientific publications, according to Researchgate. Gan was also elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2019.
As an example of the type of work he specialized in, Gan is named as leading a five-year, cross-disciplinary research project on “optimizing systems productivity, resilience and sustainability in the major Canadian ecozones” through 2023 under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster. The cluster is funded on a 70/30 basis by the federal government and nine Prairie commodity groups and commissions.
