Jail term stands for orchestrator of $110m fraud
The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by former notary Rashida Samji to throw out her criminal conviction for fraud relating to a $110-million Ponzi scheme that resulted in a six-year sentence.
Samji’s appeal argued that she shouldn’t face jail time when she’s already been fined $33 million by the B.C. Securities Commission.
However, in a decision released earlier this month, the Court of Appeal ruled that, while the administrative penalty was substantial, it wasn’t punitive.
“It was a protective and preventive order designed to deter similar fraudulent conduct, not to denounce the appellant’s conduct or reflect her moral blameworthiness,” said the appeal decision written by Justice Barbara Fisher and supported by Chief Justice Robert Bauman and Justice John Hunter.
The appeal court concluded that a stay under the Charter of Rights wasn’t warranted, either, as Samji hadn’t answered to society at large for her conduct, and a stay “would likely cause the public to lose confidence in the integrity of the justice system.”
Samji was sentenced to six years in prison more than a year ago, but has been out on $100,000 bail pending the outcome of her appeal.
Samji’s case is a rare criminal conviction for investor fraud, according to a recent Postmedia investigation. As few as eight cases have landed fraudsters in jail in the past decade, according to a review of court records and news files.
Samji, 64, was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $10 million to her victims.
She was convicted on 28 counts of fraud and theft.
The judge said aggravating factors included that the fraud exceeded millions, had the effect of potentially destabilizing capital markets, and involved up to 200 victims.
The sentencing dealt with the impact on 14 investors who were defrauded out of $16 million from 2003-12.
The scheme saw Samji solicit money that she told investors would be used as collateral to provide “letters of comfort” for Vancouver’s Mark Anthony Group so it could obtain financing for operations in South America and South Africa.
But Mark Anthony was unaware it was being used in the scheme. Instead of paying investors up to 12 per cent per year in interest, Samji paid them back using their own money.