Fraud case stayed on judge shortage

Trial date runs afoul of limits on delays

TORONTO • Five men accused in an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud scheme have had all charges against them stayed because of a shortage of judges in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.

Earlier this year, a judge attempting to set a trial date for the five accused said they could not come before the courts until at least January 2019.

Since that date would violate the Supreme Court’s Jordan ruling, which sets firm time limits between when charges are laid and when a matter comes to trial, the five men filed an application seeking to have their charges stayed.

Justice Bonnie Croll ruled in favour of that application this month, citing lack of resources in the Superior Court as the reason for the delay.

Ontario currently has 14 vacancies in the Superior Court, according to July figures from the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.

The Canadian Bar Association recently wrote to the federal government indicating such shortages are not confined to Ontario and called on Ottawa to ramp up efforts to fill the more than 50 vacancies in Superior Courts across the country.

The federal Justice Ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment.

In her decision staying charges against the five men, Croll outlined how illnesses among the depleted ranks of the Superior Court benches left judges without time to oversee the trial until January 2019, nearly five years after the men were arrested.

The Supreme Court’s Jordan ruling, handed down in July 2016, states that those charged with a criminal offence have the right to have their cases tried within a reasonable time from the date charges are laid — 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in Superior Court.

“To meet the Jordan timeline, it is axiomatic that courts must be properly resourced with the appropriate complement of judges,” Croll wrote in her July 12 decision.

“In this case, despite serious and creative efforts made to find a solution, resource issues prevented the court from being able to meet its Jordan obligation. The delay was simply too long to be considered reasonable.”

According to the senior counsel to the court’s chief justice, the problem is expected to get worse.

The now-stayed fraud case involved Vincent Villanti, Revendra Chaudhary, Andrew Lloyd, Shane Smith and David Prentice, who were all charged with fraud over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit a crime in connection with an alleged investment and tax-avoidance scheme. All maintained their innocence.

Prosecutors alleged the men ran an investment program, raising more than $13 million from approximately 5,000 people. Investors were allegedly told their money would be used as start-up capital for small businesses, and that they could claim any resulting business losses on their personal income taxes, the Crown said.

DELAY WAS SIMPLY TOO LONG TO BE CONSIDERED REASONABLE.