$30 million mortgage fraud scheme
Vansanity posted a link to this story in the Vancouver Sun. Two men have just been charged for one of the biggest financial frauds in BC history:
Gill’s method of operation — as described in the Benchers’ Bulletin (the law society’s in-house publication) — was to develop a property and sell it to one of his nominees. The nominee would arrange a mortgage on the property and then sell it to an innocent purchaser.
The purchaser, in turn, would arrange financing from his lending institution and forward the money to Wirick on his undertaking to pay off the original mortgage loan and register a new first mortgage. But rather than disburse the money as promised, Wirick simply paid the funds to Gill and his Vanview group of companies.
In many cases, Wirick would provide false discharge documents, and a portion of the purloined money would be used to keep the original mortgage payments current, so neither the purchaser nor the original mortgage lender would be any wiser.
The new mortgage lender, meanwhile, naturally assumed he had obtained a first mortgage against the property. But since the original mortgage hadn’t really been discharged, he was actually in second position.
In some cases, this process was repeated, enabling Gill to mortgage the property many times over and generate more money than it was worth. Eventually the scheme collapsed, revealing a tangled web of transactions, mortgages and competing claims.
When the scheme was uncovered, law society officials took over Wirick’s practice and audited his books and records. They also obtained access to Gill’s records through the court, which gave them a good idea of where the money went.
Real estate always goes up, but not fast enough for Gill & Wirick it seems..
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August 27th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Also: has anybody else lost track of the gangland shootings? They seem to get reported on the morning news in the same vein as traffic accidents.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I like the fact that it’s not a problem until someone from OUTSIDE Vancouver sees it - like those juicy, high rolling Olympic tourists.
I also like the last paragraph:
“He also said some people arrested in the Downtown Eastside could be sent out of town. The plan drawn up for some offenders from outside the neighbourhood could entail returning to where they came from, Judge Gove said. He said he was reluctant to have the court order offenders to leave the neighbourhood. But persuasion could be used to make the trip out of town part of the plan presented in the community court, he said.”
How exactly do you know “where they came from”? and does “persuasion” mean being tossed out of a police cruiser in Burnaby without your shoes?
August 27th, 2008 at 11:01 am
August 27th, 2008 at 11:35 am
But what about the developer? He ended up with at least $3M in profits, plenty of money to get started in another country. I’m amazed that he didn’t clean out his accounts and take off elsewhere.
But I guess that’s what happens– greedy pigs get slaughtered.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am
August 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am
August 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
August 27th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
He predicted this crash, no one believed him and now its happening.
These are not quotes only paraphrasing as best as I can recall….he speaks fast
How about only 10 sales in W Van for August!!!!
Only 49 in Richmond
I was shaking, literally, while listening to him tell me what was happening in the market. It’s like there is now no chance of getting out of this market as interest has dried up like an overcooked turkey and prices on the N Shore are tumbling
He is Canada’s top money making realtor.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
August 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
http://www.discovervancouver.c.....e-t238610/
August 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I guess we’re there. And that means only one thing will get the market going eventually.
Prices will have to fall to a point where people see value in the purchase again.
Don’t get me wrong there are still a load of fools out there. There are people who would rather lose 200 - 300K then become a lowly renter. I know a few.
Those people deserve to be scalped.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
http://tinyurl.com/65d8qk
After years of trailing far back, the BC NDP is suddenly favored to win the next election. The pollster, Angus Reid, talks about the hot button issues like carbon taxes and civil servant salaries, but I think the real issue is the economy. Even if people are still working, they can’t make headway despite long hours and are becoming frustrated. More taxes and overpaid bureaucrats just remind them of their misery.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
All I can say: Yahooo, it is the wild west!!
August 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
August 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
August 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I’m not questioning their ability to better prevent this specific type of fraud however I didn’t hear them mention that there will be no more cases of mortgage fraud involving lawyers.