Vast mortgage fraud of more than $ 5 million: two Montrealers failed to create a doubt in the head of the judge

Two Montrealers who had participated in a vast mortgage fraud of more than $ 5 million during the pandemic have just been guilty. Similarly, even if they had tried to plead ignorance to get out of it.

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“Large sums of money do not appear as if by magic on a bank account without reason. However, ” said judge Salvatore Mascia, sealing the fate of the accused this Friday at the Montreal courthouse.

Sitting next to each other in the courtroom. Furthermore, Sacha Anawati and Jean Carlos Mejia did not say a word by listening to the magistrate recall how a group of fraudsters were able to blur owners in 2020 and 2021.

According to the evidence of the crown. Nevertheless, fraud vast mortgage fraud more than new consisted in usurpting the identity of owners whose building was free from debt.

By videoconferencing

“Personnifiers” then passed as the real owners, and signed false proxies. This was done before a notary and, pandemic obliges, often by videoconference.

The field was then free to make requests for staggering mortgages.

“Complice banking employees. such vast mortgage fraud more than new as a manager of a TD branch in Brossard, facilitated significant transactions and withdrawals of money,” noted the judge.

Many transfers have been made from Anawati’s residential address. He was also involved in crucial stages of the ploy, such as the recruitment of accomplices.

Mejia, for his part, had laundered $ 1.5 million via ecran companies, including one of clothes. According to a legal analysis. practically all the money injected into this company came “directly or indirectly” from fraudulent mortgage vast mortgage fraud more than new loans.

The withdrawals of the company’s account were “massive” and especially in cash, added the judge.

The group’s ploy was however fanned when an owner of Westmount wanted to obtain a loan. to be told that his house was already heavily mortgaged.

Rejected defense

For m^es Sarah-Audrey Daigneault. Émilie Robert de la Couronne, it was obvious that Anawati and Mejia, aged 45 and 32, had knowingly participated in the ploy.

But for the defense. if it were clear that there had been fraud, the two accused could not know that the money came from illegal activities.

“At the very least, he showed voluntary blindness,” replied the judge about Mejia. Any suggestion that he was deceived by professional fraudsters is based only on pure speculations. ”

The judge who did not believe the theory of defense. Anawati and Mejia were thus found guilty of recycling of crime products.

They will return to the court later, for the pleadings on the penalty to impose them.

Other co -accused, such as Phuoc Hung Luu, Xu Yi Huang and Emma Gonzalez, had pleaded guilty before the trial. The latter had also testified for the crown. In their case, their sentence will be known at a next hearing.