ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ,
4 ਮਈ: ਕੈਨੇਡਾ 'ਚ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਮੂਲ ਦੇ ਇਕ ਸਾਬਕਾ ਰੀਅਲ ਅਸਟੇਟ ਡਿਵੈਲਪਰ ਤਰਸੇਮ ਗਿੱਲ
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ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤ ਸਤੰਬਰ 2011 'ਚ ਹੋਣੀ ਸੀ ਪਰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਲੋਂ ਅਪਣੇ ਵਕੀਲ ਨੂੰ ਕੱਢ ਦਿਤੇ
ਜਾਣ ਕਾਰਨ ਇਹ ਅੱਗੇ ਪੈ ਗਈ।
Vancouver property developer Tarsem Gill, whose
fraudulent activity cost B.C. lawyers nearly $40 million and placed
immeasurable stress on dozens of homebuyers and lenders, has entered
an 11th-hour guilty plea.
During a 45-minute appearance in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday, Gill
pleaded guilty to defrauding 77 homebuyers and 30 lenders of
$31,165,111 from 2000 to 2002.
His trial, delayed numerous times, had been scheduled to start on
Monday morning and run for five weeks.
With a guilty plea in hand, Judge Terry Schultes adjourned the
matter until May 17, at which time he will set a date for a
sentencing hearing.
Gill said nothing during the proceeding, other than to acknowledge
that he understood the guilty plea and its implications. There were
no family members in court.
I don’t think Gill, who is 58 years old, deserves much credit for
his guilty plea.
It was a terribly tangled fraud, which made for a long and complex
police investigation. And on four different occasions, Crown counsel
Kevin Gillett prepared himself for trial, only to have the case
adjourned due to some Gill-inspired delay.
The cost to taxpayers, by any reasonable estimate, is well into six
figures. And it is by no means clear that the sentencing hearing
will be a simple process. It all depends on whether Gill co-operates
in the preparation of an agreed statement of facts. If he limits his
co-operation, then the hearing could consume a lot more valuable
court time.
Gill perpetrated his crimes through Vancouver lawyer Martin Wirick.
Homebuyers entered into agreements to buy properties from
Gill-controlled companies or Gill nominees. They sent their money to
Wirick, who was acting on Gill’s behalf, on his undertaking to pay
off the existing mortgages and deliver clear title. However, instead
of using the money as promised, he remitted the funds to Gill, who
used them for his own purposes.
In a similar vein, lenders — nearly all well-known financial
institutions, most notably Vancouver City Savings Credit Union —
forwarded money (on behalf of their borrowing clients) to Wirick on
his undertaking to clear off existing mortgages and register their
charge in first position on the property. Once again, Wirick failed
to discharge his duties and instead diverted the funds to Gill, who
used them for his own purposes.
The charges do not appear to capture the entire amount of the fraud.
The B.C. Law Society, which ensures the public against lawyer fraud,
paid out $38.4 million in claims on account of Wirick’s
participation.
Sorting out the claims, many of which were overlapping, took
hundreds of man hours. And to finance the payouts, the society had
to impose a special assessment on its 10,000 lawyer-members.
If there was one consolation to Wirick’s conduct, it was that he
almost immediately went into mitigation mode.
When the scheme was uncovered in May 2002, Wirick resigned from the
law society, admitted his part in the scheme and agreed to permanent
disbarment. And when the case came to court in June 2009, he pleaded
guilty and was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Many of the victims were new Canadians who suffered the initial
shock of learning that prior mortgages on their homes had not been
discharged, then the anxiety of living in homes that were laden with
debt not of their own making.
Although the law society eventually compensated them, the experience
took a heavy emotional toll:
“It was only with tremendous effort that we were able to purchase a
new condominium in 2002,” one person stated in a victim impact
statement at Wirick’s sentencing
“Since it had been nearly 10 years [since our last holiday], we
joined a tour to Disneyland. ... But we received the letter from the
court a few days prior to our departure. That night, my wife and I
cried in each other’s arms. And the days thereafter were full of
sorrow and sadness.”
Another victim described the wrenching psychological impact: “Under
constant threat of foreclosure and lawsuit, sleep was impossible and
escalating episodes of panic, despair and hours of uncontrollable
sobbing alternated with periods of complete numbness.”
While Wirick mercifully expedited the proceeding, Gill not only
maintained his innocence, he played a game of musical chairs with
his lawyers. Here’s the chronology:
March 2, 2009: Gill makes his first appearance in court with lawyer
David Crossin. Pleads not guilty and elects trial by jury. Jury
selection set for Sept. 8, 2011.
March 8 and 9, 2010: Court holds two-day preliminary hearing. Gill
is committed for trial.
August 2011: Before jury selection can begin, Gill fires Crossin and
hires Ian Donaldson, who needs time to familiarize himself with the
case. Trial is rescheduled for Sept. 17, 2012.
September 2012: Days before the trial is set to begin, Gill fires
Donaldson and hires Robert Doran. Trial is reset for Jan. 28, 2013.
January 2013: Days before the trial date, Doran withdraws for
unexplained “ethical reasons.” Trial is rescheduled for Feb. 11,
2013.
February 2013: Days before the trial is set to begin, Gill retains
his fourth lawyer — Jason Mann of Vancouver — who obtains another
adjournment. Trial is re-set for May 6. By this time, Judge Schultes
is fed up. He appoints Vancouver lawyer Fiona Begg as amicus curiae
(friend of the court) with the idea that if Mann parts company with
Gill, she will be able to move the case forward.
May 3, 2013: Just three days before the trial is set to begin, Gill
pleads guilty.
dbaines@vancouversun.com