METRO VANCOUVER — Sophon Sek grinned and gave the thumbs-up signal Sunday night after winning the top prize of $364,364 in the B.C. Poker Championship.

But his luck ran out Monday when Sek was arrested about noon in connection with the Surrey Six slayings.

Sek, a 30-year-old Red Scorpion associate, is the sixth gangster to face charges in the 2007 slaughter of six in the Balmoral Tower highrise.

He made his first appearance in Surrey Provincial Court on Tuesday and was remanded to Nov. 30.

Sek, who lives in Cloverdale, is charged with manslaughter and break and enter, but could face additional counts, said Cpl. Dale Carr, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Carr said he couldn’t provide details of why Sek is facing lesser charges than four other accused, who are all charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Cory and Mike Lal, Ryan Bartolomeo, Eddie Narong, Chris Mohan and Ed Schellenberg.

But The Vancouver Sun has learned that Sek is alleged to have given the killers access to the Balmoral Tower without knowing their plans. Sek was close to another Red Scorpion associate who lived three floors below the death suite in October 2007.

“This has been an ongoing investigation that has taken additional months over and above the original charges that we laid,” Carr said.

“That is the evidence before Crown and those are the charges that they laid based on the evidence that was before them. The investigation is ongoing and there remains the potential that other charges and/or arrests may be made in relation to this.”

Howard Blank, vice-president of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, confirmed that Sek is the player who won the prestigious poker tournament at the River Rock Casino over the weekend.

“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 said. “He was just one of many local players who came out.”

He said Sek is unknown in the poker world and that sometimes rookies get lucky and hit the jackpot.

“There is so much luck that comes into it besides skill,” Blank said.

He said that while a giant ceremonial cheque was handed to Sek after the win Sunday, competitors usually come back for the real cheque the following day.

But Sek never returned and Blank only learned what happened when police called.

Carr said he knew nothing about the RCMP request that Sek’s winnings be frozen.

Nor would he comment on whether undercover police operators would have been at the poker tournament watching their suspect.

News of another charge in the unprecedented gangland killings was welcome news for victims’ families.

Eileen Mohan, whose son Chris was an innocent bystander, said she was called by IHIT and told there had been another arrest.

“We have known there were more gang members out there linked to the Red Scorpions. We have always been told there were more arrests to come. It was just a matter of time,” Mohan said. “The RCMP are doing their due diligence and trying to make a safer community for all of us.”

Steve Brown, the brother-in-law of fireplace repairman Schellenberg, praised police for staying the course.

“Just kudos to the continuing police work,” Brown said in an e-mail.

Carr said Sek is “known to police.” He was charged in July 2008 with possession of an unlicensed firearm.

The other accused in the Surrey Six case — Jamie Bacon, who is also on trial for firearms offences, Matt Johnston, Cody Haevischer and Michael Le — have all been held in pretrial custody since their arrest.

Bacon, Johnston and Haevischer were arrested last April 3, the day that their former associate Dennis Karbovanec pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shooting three of the victims in the head. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Le was arrested last June 17 by Philippines law enforcement as he arrived at the airport in Manila. He was later deported to Canada to join the other accused.

Bacon and Le each face one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of Cory Lal, who was dealing drugs out of suite 1505 in the Balmoral Tower. Johnston and Haevischer are charged with six counts of first-degree murder in all the deaths.

Bacon has launched a constitutional challenge of the conditions in which he is being held in Surrey Pretrial because he is cut off from other inmates and claims he has been denied visits, letters and medical attention.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved his decision in Bacon’s challenge.

kbolan@vancouversun.com

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