Fraud charges against condo manager
Fraud in condo corporations is not rare. Criminal charges are few & far between.
There are two news reports of condo fraud charges laid in two communities just west of Toronto.
Ex-president of local condo board charged with fraud
GuelphToday Staff
24 December 2021
A Guelph male faces charges in connection with more than $80,000 in fraudulent transactions.
Earlier this year, the male was removed from his position as president of a local condominium board and turned over records to his successor. A review of the documents revealed more than $42,000 in payments allegedly made to vendors which were actually deposited into a private bank account.
As well, a local bank contacted police to report more than $40,000 in fraudulent transactions through the same bank account.
Following a lengthy investigation by the Guelph Police Service Fraud Unit,
a 58-year-old Guelph male turned himself in Thursday. He is charged with fraud
over $5,000, uttering a forged document and false pretences. He will appear in a Guelph court Feb. 4.
Condo manager faces fraud charges
REMI Network
27 September 2021
A condominium manager in the Kitchener-Waterloo area is facing fraud charges in connection with alleged financial losses over $500,000, of which several condo corporations suffered from. The case emphasizes how seriously the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO) deals with complaints against its licensees and the action that follows.
The CMRAO reported in a recent news release that it became aware of these charges earlier this year. The individual has since been identified as Gavin Kendrick, a former licensed condo manager with Millcreek Management Inc. He was arrested by the Waterloo Regional Police Service and now faces five counts of fraud over $5,000 and five counts of theft over $5,000.
An investigation began In March 2020 when the registrar of the CMRAO received many complaints about Millcreek Management Inc. and subsequently rolled out interim measures: to suspend the manager’s transitional general licence and apply certain conditions to the Millcreek Management Inc.’s condominium provider licence. The accused cancelled his license while the inspection was ongoing and is no longer licensed to provide condominium management services.
After receiving new complaints about the manager and management company, the CMRAO proposed other conditions on Millcreek Management’s licence, on April 22, 2021, specifically:
Millcreek shall not allow Kendrick to be an interested person or an associated person (as defined in sections 1(2) and 37(2) of the CMSA) in respect of Millcreek’s business as a condominium management provider. In particular, Millcreek shall not allow Kendrick to be an officer or director of Millcreek, have a beneficial interest in Millcreek’s activities, exercise control either directly or indirectly over Millcreek, and provide financing either directly or indirectly to Millcreek’s activities.
Within one year of the date that this condition takes effect, Millcreek is required to comply with an inspection with an inspector appointed by the registrar. In particular, the inspector shall inspect: a random sample of monthly financial statements prepared by Millcreek and provided to Millcreek’s clients; the signing authority arrangements for a random sample of Millcreek’s clients; and Millcreek’s written procedures for handling the transfer of client documents upon termination.
Millcreek Management has appealed the registrar’s proposal to apply these conditions, an ongoing matter that is currently being adjudicated before the Licence Appeal Tribunal.
In one case the person charged was a condo president. In the other case, it is a condominium manager. Not surprising.
When I shared a condominium management office with another manager, a new contractor would ask the two of us what kind of liquor we liked, where we liked to shop and other such questions. We constantly showed no interest.
One morning he told us that he was confused. He did not know what we wanted from him. We told him that we did not want anything; just for him to do a good quality job at a reasonable price.
He told us that this was unusual. All the other managers usually expected benefits equaling 5% of all business that they sent his way.
For more examples of corrution in condo corporations, please read:
https://condomadness.info/chapter-corruption.html
So many more of them are out there that should be behind bars like the con man in Oakville who claims to be a condo expert as a smoke screen.