Case involving B.C. mortgage broker heads back to court as investors fear for their savings
CBC
23-05-17 02:41
Greg Martel, a controversial Victoria-based mortgage broker, owes over CAD 226m ($182m) to hundreds of investors who bought investments that, according to documents, may not have been real. Martel is the sole director of My Mortgage Auction Corp. (MMAC), which did business as Shop Your Own Mortgage, and the chief creditor, identified by a civil suit as 1548199 Alberta, claims it is owed CAD 17.6m. Two weeks ago, MMAC and Martel were put into court-appointed receivership overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Neil Bunker, PwC's vice-president, said in a virtual town hall meeting with investors that procedures have not yet unveiled the missing millions or indeed, proof the investments ever existed. The case will resume in a Vancouver court on 5 May. Martel was accused of running his business like a Ponzi scheme. He claimed his investment arm provided annualised rates of between 50 and 100 per cent on bridging loans, when bank interest rates were at a historic low.
A nationalist march in Jerusalam is likely to provoke tensions and trigger unrest as right-wing Israeli groups plan a parade to mark Jerusalem day. The day celebrates what is referred to as the "reunification" of Jerusalem after it was captured and occupied in 1967 and is marked on 22 May. Days before the march, tensions are still high after a ceasefire reached between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel, following a four-day Israeli bombardment that left 33 Palestinians and one Israeli dead. Thousands of young Orthodox Jewish men are due to parade through the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, a provocation that has led to attacks against Palestinians.
Blade Silvano is on trial accused of pretending to be a man during a two-year, ostensibly heterosexual relationship with a woman who only discovered her true gender after they had sexual intercourse twice and had planned to get married. Prosecutors allege in Cambridge Crown Court that Silvano's deception was sophisticated, with Silvano using an "unknown item" during sex and keeping T-shirt and boxers on. Silvano denies the charges.
A French appeals court has upheld a one-year prison sentence for ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy following his conviction in 2021 for corruption and influence peddling. He was found guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate for information about a legal case in which he was involved. This marked the first time that a former French president had been convicted of corruption and handed a prison sentence. The 68-year-old Sarkozy has denied wrongdoing and has appealed the ruling. His lawyer said that he will take the case forward to France’s highest court and insisted that he is innocent. Sarkozy will not have to serve his sentence until a final ruling is made. If he is definitively convicted, he could ask to serve his sentence at home. The ex-president was convicted in another legal case in 2021, relating to illegal campaign financing. Last week, prosecutors called for him to be sent to trial over allegations that he was involved in taking millions in illegal funding for his 2007 campaign, from the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Lawyers for Western Australia's Mineral Resources and billionaire Chris Ellison have accused former employee Steven Pigozzo and Harmer’s Lawyers boss Michael Harmer of causing a public disturbance by handing over a legal claim against Ellison to the press before a court judged the matter. Ellison's lawyer, Steven Penglis claimed in court that the defamation action and defences depend on the 56-minute period between the filing and sealing of the claim, adding that the defendants would be protected by privilege. The case is open to the public under the Federal Court rules, which were recently tightened as a direct response to the incident.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been denied an appeal to overturn his corruption charges. A Paris court upheld the guilty verdict, he is banned from serving in public office and faces a two-year suspended prison sentence however he will not have to go to jail and instead will have to wear an electronic tag. Sarkozy was convicted in 2021 of corruption and influence peddling. He bribed a judge in exchange for information about a probe related to alleged financial impropriety in his party. Sarkozy has faced numerous legal inquiries since he left office in 2012.
The former CEO of collapsed finance firm London Capital & Finance (LCF), Michael Thomson, has been given a suspended sentence for accessing and spending £95,000 in luxuries while his assets were restrained under a court order relating to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into LCF. Thomson – who directed the funds to his wife’s account and spent them on outings such as a holiday in Italy and items including a horse saddle – was given 10 months in prison, suspended over two years, for twice breaching the order. The collapse of LCF affected 11,000 investors and resulted in £230m in losses.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his appeal for conviction for corruption and influence peddling, meaning he will now wear an ankle monitor. The Paris Court of Appeals upheld his three-year prison sentence, with two years to be suspended. Sarkozy was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge. His lawyers claim he is innocent and announced plans to appeal the decision to France's highest court. Sarkozy is also facing separate charges for accepting illegal campaign payments from Libya during his 2007 election bid. He was found guilty of illegal campaign financing in 2021.
An Italian court has annulled measures by Italy's competition watchdog against Eni and Acea, who were charged over improper price-setting for gas and electricity. The TAR del Lazio court said the case had been dropped because there was not adequate legal basis for the action. The watchdog had suspended the validity of contracts made from August 2012 to April 2016 that allowed seven companies under its investigation to change their prices, which it said contravened a government decree issued last August. The other companies involved were Edison, Enel, Hera and France's Engie.
Police will use facial recognition tech at the Cardiff location for Beyoncé's upcoming tour but not at the stadium itself, say South Wales Police. The technology will support policing of the concert, they add. Such technology has drawn concerns from privacy advocates who have called for a ban. The Metropolitan Police was criticised for its use of facial recognition technology during the Notting Hill Carnival in 2019.
A 34-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Steven Harnett, 25, and Katie Higton, 27, who were found dead at Higton’s Huddersfield home on Monday. Marcus Osbourne was also charged with the detention and assault of another woman at the property on the same evening. Osbourne is due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. Officers were called to the property by paramedics, who were attending two people thought to have been injured by a bladed weapon. The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed it had received a referral from West Yorkshire police over the case.
Graham Johnson, a former tabloid journalist and convicted phone hacker who is assisting Prince Harry’s legal team against Mirror Group Newspapers, is a self-confessed “professional liar”. Johnson admitted that he is not an objective witness, but denied that his skills of deception could be “used in the witness box if needed”. Prince Harry and three others are suing MGN for unlawful information gathering. While MGN has apologised unreservedly to him, they deny hacking his phone. Johnson says he was told to hack phones by the newspaper’s deputy editor Mark Thomas, with the knowledge of then-editor Tina Weaver.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly hoping that a recent US Supreme Court decision on the scope of fraud prosecutions will help his legal case after facing charges linked to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. However, many lawyers are predicting that it will not make much difference and Bankman-Fried's chances of having charges dropped remain slim. Bankman-Fried has requested that most of the charges be dismissed, arguing that some were based on a theory of fraud centered around depriving a victim of economically valuable information rather than tangible property.
UK energy firm SSE has won a legal battle with the country's tax authority over the treatment of much of its £200m spending on the Glendoe hydroelectric plant in Scotland. It could bolster confidence in the sector, according to Angus Walker, a partner at BDB Pitmans. The dispute centred on whether parts of the plant counted as a tunnel or aqueduct. The Supreme Court ruled that SSE was entitled to claim capital allowances on the full sum, which would have been disallowed under the regime. HM Revenue & Customs is "carefully considering" the judgment.
Former Washington State University PhD student Bryan Kohberger has been indicted on four charges of burglary and murder by an Idaho grand jury. Kohberger is accused of killing students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chaping at their off-campus residence in November 2016. Kohberger was arrested on 30 December after evidence reportedly linked him to the crime.
Seven people from across the Midlands and West Yorkshire have appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court charged with smuggling Iraqi migrants across the English Channel. Three women and four men were alleged to have committed the offence across several weeks in 2018. An eighth defendant charged with the same offence did not attend. The defendants were given unconditional bail until their next court appearance on June 26. Home Office figures show that of 13,377 detected attempts by migrants to enter the UK by irregular means in 2018, just 299 involved a small boat. Last year, the comparable figure was 45,755.
Manchester City's victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 at the Etihad Stadium has been hailed as Pep Guardiola's finest moment in Europe. City dominated the reigning champions and ultimately secured a 2-1 aggregate victory that put them through to the quarter-finals. It has been suggested that this was an inevitable result given that City has become the most lavish sporting project ever seen, built upon intelligent planning and the near-perfect conditions created by Abu Dhabi's large-scale backing of the club over a sustained period.
A farmer who bulldozed a riverside beauty spot to help protect a village against flooding has failed to overturn his 12-month prison sentence for his actions and must serve half of that term. John Price, aged 68, used an 18-tonne digger to dredge a one-mile section of the River Lugg near Leominster, Herefordshire. In an unsuccessful appeal aimed at getting a suspended sentence, Price was described as “selfish and ignorant” and judged to have disregarded the law. The court heard how he had destroyed the habitats of otters, salmon, trout and kingfishers through his actions.
Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the country's National Assembly, potentially deepening the country's political turmoil, after it started impeachment proceedings against him over allegations of mismanagement. In using the presidential power to disband the assembly, Lasso — who denies any wrongdoing in the matter — triggered the election of a new assembly and presidency, with winners serving out the remainder of officials' terms until May 2025. Lasso may choose to run in the presidential election and can rule by decree for six months. Critics of Lasso have condemned the move, and it could spark protests, though the president appears to have the support of the armed forces. The move is legal under Ecuador's 2008 constitution.
A federal appeals court is considering restricting access to a key abortion medication, which was first approved over two decades ago and has since become part of more than half of US abortions. The three judges on the panel questioned lawyers for the government and the drug manufacturer about why mifepristone could be prescribed by medical professionals other than doctors and why the drug could be sent by mail instead of being dispensed in person. The judges also appeared to accept the suggestion that new restrictions on mifepristone could result in fewer women requiring emergency care following medication-induced abortions. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a Christian conservative group of anti-abortion doctors and others, filed a lawsuit arguing that the FDA improperly cleared the medication for use and later allowed the drug to be mailed, violating federal law. The legal fight around abortion has moved away from laws like Roe v Wade towards questions around medical access to mifepristone, with lawmakers in multiple states limiting and banning the procedure.
