S. Court rejects Trump appeal of decision he misled buyers

Investors in Toronto hotel tower win lawsuit over false promises

OTTAWA— Canada’s highest court is upholding a lower-court ruling in favour of investors who launched a lawsuit alleging they were misled by now U.S. President Donald Trump and a real-estate development firm.

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided it will not hear an appeal by defendants Trump, Talon International Development and its former executives, in relation to the Trump International Hotel and Tower development in downtown Toronto.

The plaintiffs — Sarbjit Singh and Se Na Lee — allege they were sold units in the hotel under false pretenses and misled to believe their investments would result in returns ranging from 7.74 per cent to 20.90 per cent.

Instead, the two investors lost a combined $1.2 million, according to a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal last year.

The 65-storey tower in the financial district is comprised of hotel rooms and private residences and is managed by the Trump Organization.

Last October, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the investors, ordering that the sale of the unit must be rescinded for Singh and damages must be paid to Lee for “negligent misrepresentation.”

It also ordered that damages, the amount to be determined at a later date, be paid out to Lee for “negligent misrepresentation.” Lee said she lost nearly $1 million after taking possession of the unit. Mitchell Wine, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, says the Supreme Court ruling clears the way for more legal action to be taken against Trump, Talon and its ex-CEO and president Val Levitan and exdirector and chairman Alex Shnaider.

He said there are at least two dozen other investors who will also be looking to have the deposits returned.

“They’re not high rollers, high finance people. They’re plain ordinary people who generally read about this (Trump hotel) on the Internet or saw advertisements and were told they would get a very decent return,” Wine said.

“When I would ask them, ‘Why did you invest in this?’ The answer, in their not very good English, was ‘Donald Trump, The Apprentice.’ They had a lot of faith in Mr. Trump’s ability to build first-class hotels and to make money for people.”

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Talon’s lawyer, Symon Zucker, said his client was “clearly disappointed” by the Supreme Court decision. He confirmed that Talon was currently under receivership in relation to the hotel.

Earlier this week FTI Consulting, a receiver in a court-run sale of the hotel, said in a letter it received no competing bids for the luxury property, located in Toronto’s financial district. Investment firm JCF Capital ULC was listed in the letter as the successful bidder after making an initial “stalking horse” bid.

The 65-storey tower in Toronto’s financial district opened in 2012 and is comprised of 211 hotel rooms and 74 private residences.