Mounties search offices in mortgage fraud probe

Enforcement Teams carried out six search warrants in the GTA related to an investigation into the syndicated mortgage frauds,” Hermann said.

“We encourage those who have any information or have been affected by the type of fraud to call Crime Stoppers.”

In February, eight participants in Canada’s syndicated mortgage market were sanctioned by the sector’s chief regulator, part of a $1.1 million settlement that saw several lose their broker licences.

The four individual brokers and four brokerages were involved in the distribution of syndicated mortgage investments for projects linked to Fortress. While Fortress itself was not a party to the settlement or subject to any of the orders handed down by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the mortgage broker licence of Fortress’s chief operating officer, Vince Petrozza, was revoked on consent.

At the time, a Fortress spokesperson said Petrozza made “a business decision to consent to an order” and would be focusing on real estate development, which does not require a mortgage broker licence.

There is nothing inherently wrong with syndicated mortgages, in which groups of investors back real estate developments, and many such mortgages are funded and discharged without issue. Some of these investments fund commercial and large-scale residential real estate developments in their early stages, and projects include condominium, office and retail complexes.

According to FSCO figures, the syndicated mortgage market grew rapidly between 2014 and 2016, from $3.7 billion to $6 billion.

But the growing sector has attracted several lawsuits, which contain claims that investors were put into developments that were far riskier than they were led to believe. The claims, none of which have been proven in court, allege investors were misled about where their money was going, who had priority on returns and what recourse they had if the development ran into trouble.

Fortress Real Developments was named in a number of lawsuits filed on behalf of syndicated mortgage investors, but denied any wrongdoing and moved to have the cases thrown out of court. In August, the company issued a news release that said four proposed class actions were struck out by the Ontario Superior Court, and claims against Petrozza and Fortress co-founder Jawad Rathore were dismissed on the basis that the statements of claim “did not disclose any legal causes of action against them.” is a good offence.”

The company has said that the two attorneys-general “are incapable of impartial investigations and are attempting to silence political opponents who disagree on the appropriate policies to address climate change.”

Massachusetts’ high court ruling upholds a lower court decision ordering Exxon to comply with Healey’s investigation.

The court rejected Exxon’s argument that the attorneygeneral should be disqualified from the investigation because of comments she made that Exxon says show bias against the company. The court said Healey’s comments showed no “actionable bias.”

“As an elected official, it is reasonable that she routinely informs her constituents of the nature of her investigations,” the court said.

Exxon had also argued that Massachusetts lacks jurisdiction because the company does not have a corporate presence in the state.