Markham’s Jawad Rathore and Richmond Hill’s Vince Petrozza are charged with fraud and covert supplies under Canada’s Penal Code, the RCMP said in a press release on Tuesday. The investigation, called Project Dynasty, began in 2016 following a public complaint about Fortress Real Developments, Rathore and Petrozza’s Richmond Hill. “Allegations were made that the company was fraudulently investing in a home equity investment scheme,” the Toronto-based RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team wrote in Tuesday’s news bulletin. Syndicated mortgages are investments in which a developer finds more than one private lender to invest money in a property instead of going through a bank. The RCMP claims that Petrozza and Rathore “engage in fraud by orchestrating an ongoing project that did not reveal the various risks to brokers and investors”. The charges are an example of the Mounties keeping communities safe by “effectively disrupting financial crime”, Insp’s integrated enforcement team. Vance Morgan reportedly said in the press release. The defendants are expected to appear in court in Toronto on August 3.
