The developers of the Skycity real estate project in Winnipeg, which never saw the light of day, are accused of fraud.
After a six-year investigation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have laid charges against two Ontarians responsible for the failure of the construction project of the SkyCitywhich was to be the tallest building in Winnipeg.
Jawad Rathore, of Markham, and Vince Petrozza, of Richmond Hill, are charged with fraud and secret commissions under the Criminal Code of Canada, says the RCMP in a statement released Tuesday.
The Richmond Hill company in Ontario, Fortress Real Developmentswanted to build a $200 million tower of 388 housing units, northeast of the intersection of Graham Avenue and Smith Street.
The proposed 45-storey building had been advertised as the tallest building between Calgary and Toronto.
The survey, called Project Dynastybegan in 2016 after a complaint about Fortress Real Developmentsthe company of the two men, based in Richmond Hill.
In addition to the project SkyCity in Winnipeg, the company had dozens of projects in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Allegations were received that the company was fraudulently obtaining investments in a syndicated mortgage investment schemewrites the RCMPin the press release.
Syndicated mortgages are investments where a developer finds more than one private lender to put money into a property, rather than going through a bank.
The RCMP alleges that Mr. Petrozza and Mr. Rathore committed fraud by orchestrating an ongoing scheme whereby they failed to disclose the various risks to brokers and investors.
On Tuesday, Vince Petrozza argued in a tweet that he intended to vigorously defending oneself against the charges.
Mr. Petrozza collaborated with the RCMP throughout his investigation, and he is surprised and disappointed that the police have decided to press chargesreads the attorney’s statement included in Mr. Petrozza’s post.
We are confident that when the evidence comes to light, it will show that there was no fraud or secrecy. Mr. Petrozza is innocent and we eagerly await his trial.
When the principal creditor took over the parking lot where SkyCity was supposed to be built, the 649 people who had invested in syndicated mortgages for the project were told there was no money left from the deal to pay them off, according to the latest report from FAAN Mortgage Administrators.
Some people have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the project.
FAAN was appointed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2018 to act as trustee of the brokerage firm that provided financing for SkyCity and other projects of Fortress Real Developments through syndicated mortgage investments.
Jawad Rathore did not respond to request for comment from CBC.
Mr Rathore and Vince Petrozza are due in court in Toronto on August 3.
With information from Joanne Levasseur
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
