TORONTO — Lawyers are expected to make their submissions today at a bail hearing for an Ontario man accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for an international drug smuggling ring.
Rolan Sokolovski, a jeweller and former professional poker player, is seeking to be released ahead of his extradition hearing.
Sokolovski is one of eight Canadians arrested in November as part of an ongoing investigation targeting fugitive Ryan Wedding, a former Team Canada snowboarder now allegedly running a billion-dollar drug trafficking network.
U.S. authorities allege Sokolovski served as the “de facto bank” for the criminal enterprise, oversaw its bookkeeping and laundered drug money through his jewelry business, Diamond Tsar.
In a letter last month, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged the 37-year-old has “tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and physical assets at his disposal,” and poses a flight risk as well as a danger to the public.
Prosecutors in Toronto pressed Sokolovski on his finances last week, and questioned the four people proposing to supervise him if he is released on bail.
The identities of the proposed sureties are protected under a publication ban meant to reduce the risk to their safety.
Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics, was added to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most-wanted list last year.
His organization is alleged to have transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada by way of Mexico and the U.S.
Wedding and his second-in-command are also accused of taking out hits on people they perceived as a threat to the organization’s operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2026.
The Canadian Press
