The Canadian Press

A Toronto-based financial adviser who returned from China to face fraud charges is now broke and will need legal aid, his lawyer said.

Weizhen Tang made a court appearance Thursday after returning to Canada to face allegations he defrauded investors of tens of millions of dollars.

But his lawyer, Loftus Cuddy, said he won’t be representing Tang for long.

“He doesn’t have any money, so he’s applying for legal aid,” the lawyer said Thursday.

Tang, 51, was taken into custody when his Air Canada flight arrived at Pearson International Airport on Wednesday evening.

He made a brief appearance in court before the case was put over until Thursday afternoon. A decision was then to be made on whether his bail hearing would begin Thursday or at a later date.

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

“The kind of sum he’s going to have to come up with is substantial,” the lawyer said. “It will be in the six figures.”

But he said Tang was not a flight risk, pointing out that he returned to Canada voluntarily and was co-operating with authorities.

“He knew that he was going to be arrested and came back,” Cuddy said.

Toronto police had issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Tang, who has been charged with fraud over $5,000.

The fraud warrant was in addition to 12 counts of breaching the Securities Act laid against Tang last June by the Ontario Securities Commission in connection with the hedge fund Tang administers, the Oversea Chinese Fund Limited Partnership.

Cuddy said Tang was “happy to be back in Canada” and described him as cheerful and positive.

“He’s looking forward to returning to his life in Canada and proclaiming his innocence in whatever form that’s required,” the lawyer said.

It’s alleged that between January 2006 and March 2009, more than 100 victims were defrauded of approximately $30 million through an online trading Ponzi scheme.

Toronto police allege there were victims in the United States, China and Canada, including one Toronto-area resident who allegedly lost $2.4 million.

Tang will be back in court on Monday.