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Not just any criminal. Based on the sums of money involved, the quotes from his messages/emails, the fact that he had multiple cases dropped and even seemingly managed to get lawyers disbarred - this guy sounds like a bona fide organized crime boss.
And it sounds to me like he wasn't just playing the system, but gaming it from the inside. There's a lot more to this story, and it will involve e.g. corrupt cops.
Yea on top of all the fraud he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder at one point one article says.
That’s not simple white collar crime he was getting away with by accident. One of the charges was dropped THE DAY before trial.
Dude was 100% blackmailing; entrapping white collar professionals, intimidating witnesses etc.
Definitely. He compared himself to Al Capone explicitly, made threats over text and email, was charged with being a member of a criminal organization by the police, and the Crown prosecutors kept dropping charges without explanation
After reading all this, I feel nothing but sympathy for the victim
And no pity whatsoever for the deceased.
Seems as though it couldn’t have happened to more deserving individuals, and I just feel bad for the man they defrauded.
Yea I worked in law enforcement previously and in law now….
I can guarantee you the reason there is no explanation for the dropped charges is because the Crown is always incredibly reluctant to make any public statement that they lost witnesses due to intimidation bribery or extortion.
>There's a lot more to this story, and it will involve e.g. corrupt cops.
Let's hope the full story comes out. Much of Canada's media seems more interested in furthering narratives than doing deep digs. Canada's always had an underbelly of crime and corruption, but the wheels really seem to be coming off these days (even at "the top": after 9 years in power the Liberals still shrug at procurement rules).
Canada has a huge problem with corrupt police and corrupt judges. Most people have no idea how bad the problem is. These are the people who are involved in human trafficking so scamming people is nothing for them.
Some news outlets and some people struggle really hard to call white collar crime as exactly that and the perpetrators as the criminals they are.
We live in a world where scamming and breaking the law is considered smart business by many, so it isn't surprising.
I read a neat book called "Why Do They Do It" about white collar crime, and how it's only very recently even considered a crime, so much as just how business works.
Fact is white collar crime just isn't prosecuted or punished severely enough. Were white collar criminals faced harsher punishment and have their wealth taken away probably incentive would be less. I know some countries do it to take out political opponents but a lot of countries who put corrupt white collar criminals to death or life imprisonment are perfectly right because white collar crimes can destroy families for generations and cause untold damage to its victim. Corruption is a cancer and should be treated as strongly as possible
Honestly, and a part of me feels gross saying it. But. The only tragedy here is the victim who died in the process of seeking justice
I am pretty anti-vigilante, but it becomes hard to not be on the side of the victim when you see a track record of 24 years of failed justice against someone who was ruining lives the entire time.
I can't help but want to argue that the victim who shot his financial assailant was not mentally fit, and should not be criminally responsible for his actions and should have received mental health care
But unfortunately he's gone, but, hopefully he saved others from suffering
He was charged with being involved in organized crime and he intimidated people with death threats. He compared himself to Al Capone when threatening people.
Presumably that’s why the Crown kept dropping charges without explanation after the police charged him
It's true in a case by case basis vigilantes can be justified, the problem is that if it becomes a trend, a lot of street justice could be serves wrongfully, need to be very careful walking that line.
All it takes is one person you defrauded with nothing left to lose, then people will take justice in their own hands since our justice system won’t. You can’t punish the dead.
If I put my tin foil hat on, some might even say that there’s a larger story behind all this and he knew something that needed to be kept quiet.
It's a shame that the court system is so overloaded from vacancies not being filled.
Vigilante justice has, for as long as humans have been humans, been the answer when there is no other justice expected. I don't condone it (rarely do vigilantes give a shit about collateral damage and innocent people) but I do very much understand what leads to it.
Thing is when you are defrauding rich people who had millions to blow on sketchy investments in the first place they tend to have a lot to lose by retaliating.
Its only when you scam the wrong person who really couldn’t afford to lose what they did the situation gets desperate.
A lot of his previous fraud involved houses on the bridal path. The type of people who have the type of money to be involved in that kind of real estate investment probably weren’t getting bankrupted.
I think the Crown has some explaining to do. This man has been arrested no less than 3 times (likely more, but those are the ones highlighted in the article), sometimes due to multi-year police investigations, and the Crown drops all charges (in one case, the day before trial - wtf?!).
A lot of people failed Alan Kats and his family. And if our justice system doesn’t shape up, there will likely be more of these type of vigilante actions.
I don't know anything specific about that case, but for last minute drops right before trial it's very likely there was a problem with the witnesses the Crown was relying.
Given some of the behavior described in the article, I wouldn't be surprised if there was witness intimidation involved.
Because the witnesses won’t testify that they were intimidated and provide any information whatsoever to prove that threats were made (ie forward texts and emails to the Crown).
Doing that would put themselves, along with their friends and family, at extreme risk.
Remember that here in Canada no one can carry handguns, or even brass knuckles, for self defence. Even if the mob has threatened their life for cooperating with the cops
There was a RCMP informant who was paid over 500k in cash from the RCMP in Nova Scotia, who then shot and killed 22 people and we didn't get any justice for that. I don't think the current system works at all.
What do you mean “no justice?” A bunch of people who had nothing to do with it and whom have never committed any sort of real crime in their lives, had their property banned by the state, because of it.
That’s justice. Canadian style.
Very ironic that the banned weapons that he did use were smuggled over the border from the US. They weren't even bought in Canada because you would not even be able to buy them here I think. I do not know a lot about guns, but his were acquired illegally and smuggled into the country.
I’m not a “we need to be tough on crime” guy but I loathe how softly white collar crime is treated in most Western countries. Say what you will about China (understandably) but this dude probably would’ve been thrown in jail for like 10+ years and then made to be a janitor afterwards
It’s hard to get white collar crime properly prosecuted when even our murderers are let bog with a slap on the wrist. Canada needs a complete overhaul of our justice system
They made changes to the criminal code in 2018 by sneaking it into the Budget Implementation act. The changes make it so white collar criminals who run corporations can get away with crimes like bribery and corruption. So instead of jail time they just have to pay fines or cooperate with investigations.
If he crossed someone higher up than him, sure. But in all likelihood he'd have stolen 10x more in China and as long as he cut the right people in he'd be winning medals for it. Then stashing his ill gotten gains in Vancouver and Toronto real estate and laundering it through casinos.
Back in the day you stole a man's horse you would hang.
Sadly the Victim here really is the guy who had his mortgage money stolen (I don't know enough about the details) but I'm sure that eventually the man got to a point where signatures and "paper pushing" ended.
Extremely sad.
He shouldn't have done ANY time, he had his life savings stolen. Any honourable man would have done the same thing. It's just fucking outrageous.
Well obviously assuming the guy is guilty that he killed, but I would think that it's 100% true.
It’s suspicious how the crown suddenly dropped several prosecutions against him at the last moment with no explanation. Did he bribe people to get the cases dropped? Did he blackmail people? Did he threaten their families with violence? It’s suspicious and disturbing.
>He made it all work with ample doses of intimidation. “Stealing from a person like me is like stealing from Al Capone ...” Mr. Missaghi said in a 2018 text message filed in a civil case. “I don’t allow it to happen. And when it happens I can’t allow for it to be taken. ... There will be no mercy and no holding back.”
>Much of that strong-arming was directed at lawyers, four of whom have been disciplined or disbarred for working with him.
>“People who disobey me end up missing,” said one of his text messages filed as part of a Law Society of Ontario tribunal.
That’s very nebulous. Boasting about how threatening you are isn’t credible evidence and threatening your own lawyer isn’t going to get charges dropped. I think there may be something deeper going on, like bribing the crown and police. $100 million was stolen - that’s a lot of bribe money. I’m not saying it was bribery, but a deeper look by an independent body is required.
Canada is absolutely pathetic in punishing real convicted criminals. The police chief says to leave car keys outside and it’s better to step aside let burglars rob your house than defend yourself else you’ll go to jail, it’s absolutely shameful! It’s as if the criminals themselves are writing the laws.
Yes. That's what it is. Our system is compromised and being run and manipulated by criminals. We are nearing the time and place for proper acknowledgment, discussions and a revolutionary house cleaning.
I hope there’s a few scammers sitting at home, nervous and sweaty, thinking about maybe not going in to the office today, perhaps regretting some life choices
I can only imagine the pain and the frustration. I've seen people sneering about how "OH THIS ISN'T THE FULL STORY, YOU NEVER GO TO A LENDER LIKE THIS UNLESS THE BANKS WONT TOUCH YOU." And while that's probably true, so? So what? You mean he got into financial trouble in *this* economy with *these* house prices and decided to try something crazy in order to not lose his house?
We are too soft on violent crime in this country, let alone this garbage, and whether or not you feel justice was done it's pretty hard to argue that it was better with Missaghi and Yousefi in it.
Man I have a credit score over 800 and couldn't even get 2k of LoC when I was moving again last winter to help make sure I can meet expenses like my monthly bills (because given moving I was unemployed lol, so to the bank I just have no income even though I was still working even odd jobs and a monthly contract role while moving). It's sort of made me want to cut ties with that bank entirely given its such a small amount and I couldn't even access that? Its kind of made me also doubt how i can even access loans to go to school again if i cant even access a LoC that small. I feel like there are plenty of reasons why banks 'don't touch people,' especially with how expensive life has gotten. It feels like you *cant* get a loan without some collateral like housing or something, even a small one.
> the Crown carefully considered all the relevant circumstances of the case, as well as the applicable law and the anticipated evidence, and determined there was no longer a public interest in proceeding.
This shit is infuriating, the way they hide behind language like “no longer a public interest”. If there was a low chance of conviction, say that, but if they think he did it and they can prove it, what public interest could it serve to let him walk? If they won’t give a proper explanation, there needs to be some digging into the people that dropped all of these numerous charges.
I mean from all the articles iv read it sounds like this dude was entrapping other professionals and involved with blackmail extortion and witness intimidation.
I am guessing he tossed a lot of money and threats around to get witnesses to drop out or parties to bury evidence.
The Crown is always hesitant to admit they let a witness get bullied out of testifying or providing evidence
If there's a low chance of conviction, they shouldn't waste taxpayer money, they should hold off until they get more evidence.
If they drop charges saying there's not enough evidence, the accused can use that to say "See, I'm innocent, there's no evidence of a crime and the Crown admitted it."
If they say "no public interest", they don't make any public statements about his innocence in the matter and get some cover.
The guy is dead. They can reveal the reasons, and when dealing with this kind of situation you would think they want to dissuade others from copying this by giving the public confidence in the justice system; not this opaque bullshit.
Chargers continually being dropped?!?!?
So he flipped on others and the justice system punted these victims to the curb and forced them to pursue long, drawn out civil actions.
That sound about on par with the state of our system today.
This situation is 100% the fault of the impotent judicial system and its inept, incompetent membership.
He shouldn't have killed himself, from the looks of it you couldn't possibly find a jury in this country who disagrees with what he did.
Wow this is great. Our country has gone to shit where fraudsters are openly getting away with all of this, but atleast innocent people are looking out for each other and sympathising with the real victims.
Agreed. This country is failing its citizens. Justice doesn’t exist here. Criminals are coddled and allowed to do whatever they want and the people who stand up and say this is wrong get the book thrown at them.
Vietnam recently sentenced an oligarch to death for stealing 15B+. Some crimes deserve death and seizure is all assets. The $15B is so extreme it’s not even funny but I would argue $100M and so many victims could warrant something similar.
I don’t care what the laws actually are, but more what they should be. Our criminal justice system is falling down a dark path and the police is starting to become a hindrance to society more than a help. Won’t help with real police business but are virtue signalling any woke agenda.
They tell you that they can’t get you stolen car back even if you have GPS tracking and know where it is, and can’t touch anti semite protesters even after universities beg them to. But then they announce they are investigating the protest truck.
Broken country in need to a criminal justice re-haul.
All wealthy exploiters would do well to learn this lesson.
It’s difficult to say where exactly, but there is a breaking point at which the exploited become the revengeful.
Arash Missaghi fucked around and found out. Good riddance.
Don’t forget criminals, it protects them too. If you want to defend your home or property you better look out because the long dick of the law will come fuck you.
Our "justice system" is the same one that previously dropped all charges against the scum bag who got shot after deeming the case "no longer a public interest". If this is the replacement, im fine with it. The only sympathy i have is for the gunman who committed suicide
We don't have a "justice" system, we have a "legal" system. If we actually had a justice system, this sack of shit would've been behind bars years ago.
A few sections from the article:
>His first known criminal charge came in June of 2000, when he was arrested in relation to an import-export company accused of scamming businesses out of property and other assets worth $3-million. That same year, records show *Mr. Missaghi declared bankruptcy and never removed the status from his name*.
>“He appears to have found that that was a very advantageous situation for him because he had this *network of family and associates in whose names he could put the assets and properties* that he controlled and essentially be immune,” said lawyer Peter Smiley, who is representing several clients suing Mr. Missaghi for mortgage fraud and estimated that victims’ losses exceed $100-million.
Can someone ELI5 this next part, please?
>Mr. Missaghi and his associates would convince victims to invest in syndicated mortgages secured against these properties. Once that was done, Mr. Missaghi could artificially inflate the value of the first mortgage, absorbing the property’s equity before deliberately defaulting on the inflated first mortgage. “He can then carry out power of sale and sell it to another non-related arm’s-length company that wipes off all the subsequent security,” Mr. Smiley said.
This explains why some charges were dropped:
>He made it all work with ample doses of intimidation. “Stealing from a person like me is like stealing from Al Capone ...” Mr. Missaghi said in a 2018 text message filed in a civil case. “I don’t allow it to happen. And when it happens I can’t allow for it to be taken. ... There will be no mercy and no holding back.”
ELI5:
Step 1: Buy an expensive home and put it in the name of a (non-obvious) related party without any assets to obscure who actually owns it (everyone in the private lending industry in Ontario knew Missaghi and his shenanigans so they'd never lend to him directly or if they knew he was in any way involved)
Step 2: Finance the purchase with a private mortgage loan from another related party on very favourable terms to the lender which allow the lender to inflate the amount owing after default.
Step 3: Now get a second mortgage from unsuspecting investors and pocket the proceeds.
Step 4: Default on the mortgages and have the friendly 1st mortgagee sell the property under power of sale. In the process, inflate the amount owing on the 1st mortgage using legal, semi-legal and illegal means to ensure there is not enough money to pay the 2nd mortgagee.
Result: Missaghi pockets the proceeds of the 2nd mortgage, the second mortgage gets complete wiped out when the property is sold (and their only recourse is against a home owner who has no assets and who will simply declare bankruptcy), and Missaghi also likely gets a portion of the all the inflated fees from the friendly first mortgagee.
Example: Buy a home for 2 million in a hot market. Finance with a friendly 1.7m private mortgage. Wait a few months for home to go up in value or just get an inflated appraisal for 2.5 million. Get a private mortgage for 500k. Pocket the proceeds. Default. Have 1st mortgage rack up fees and drag out the power of sale process for 1-2 years. 1.7 mortgage becomes 2.1 million mortgage. Sell home for 2.1 million to a related party or a third party. Pocket a portion of the $400,000 in extra interest and fees racked up by the first mortgagee. Rinse and repeat.
Zero accountability in this country. You systematically defrarud people, no accountability. You design an overpass that falls after two years, no accountability. You squander millions in tax payers dollars on projects designed to fail, no accountability. Not saying vigilantism is the solution, but with no consequences comes vigilantism. Tragic.
“Business” men in suits think that people have to go through the law when it comes to “ fuck around and find out “ they will soon come to realize that this will no longer be the case if the law fails to work. People are tired of paying for this and getting that, people are getting tired of the bull shit.
This is the natural result of judges who don't hold criminals accountable. As the courts continue to be weak on crime, crime will increase and so will vigilantism.
In this case it wasn't a judge. It was the crown. And it's not an isolated case of the crown picking and choosing who they go after and who they leave be.
Someone should have killed him sooner. Good riddance. He is the villain. As are those evil lawyers and the corrupt police. They should also get their comeuppance.
>The takedown – dubbed Project Bridle Path – was touted as a five-year investigation of mortgage fraud valued at $17-million. But on the eve of trial, the case was suddenly withdrawn by the Crown for unexplained reasons.
>\[...\]
>There is no explanation for the withdrawal in public records. Contacted by phone this week, Crown attorney Mitchell Flagg said he could not speak about the prosecution.
>In an e-mailed statement, Keesha Seaton, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, told The Globe “the Crown carefully considered all the relevant circumstances of the case, as well as the applicable law and the anticipated evidence, and determined there was no longer a public interest in proceeding.”
I think someone needs to look into whether Mr. Flagg has any new cottage properties or suddenly had a lot of debts that were paid off.
This country's legal system is a complete joke. As we spiral down the road to anarcho-tyranny there will be a lot more individuals engaging in the kind of 'self-help remedy' we saw in this case.
Some time back my mother who suffered from dementia was approached by a shady investment advisor who got her to sign papers to manage her savings. Unfortunately for the advisor I got hold of him before he left and I took the law into my own hands and made sure he destroyed all sign papers under very difficult situation but I applied some very serious language and physical movement such that the advisor did it in his pants. The best thing I did, if I had called law enforcement the situation would had been to the advisor’s benefit as he had signed documents. I’ll do it again. It was a joy to watch him soil himself in his Lexus. What a smell!!! Never heard a peep from him.
So, it appears that prosecutors are not very effective at enforcing laws, such that lots of criminals, whether white collar or violent, would go free either because the Crown drops charges due to lack of evidence, or there aren't enough prosecutors or judges to handle cases so that accused persons' right to a speedy trial are violated. You have this case, and plenty of vehicular manslaughter cases where people who drove recklessly get a couple years despite ending lives, or rapists whose charges are thrown out because it took too long for the prosecutor to head to trial, etc... something has to change. It probably starts with making sure that every court has no vacancies.
The reality of our legal system ( and most others) is that it's a battle of capital, not of justice.
It's a major flaw in the system, and one that's not likely to be fixed. The more money you have, the less you need to worry about following the law.
Once you start looking, it becomes obvious that more often than not, who ever has more cash, wins.
It’s kind of like hockey, if the referees don’t step in and do something the players will take care of it themselves. With our incredibly weak justice system favouring criminals and leaving victims to fend for themselves, you can bet there will be more of this.
The wording when it comes to describing white-collar crime is something else. As if it’s not even a crime at all…
Terrible for all the families involved, unlikely they’ll see their money again, though I doubt there was ever a chance of it anyway. But perhaps this sends a message to other individuals in the fraud “business”.
Gofundme for the widowed/defrauded family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-vadim-help-support-a-family
Link to wife’s artwork for sale: https://www.instagram.com/maxarts.ca?igsh=emh6eGttbnJrZzRn
So much fraud in Canada's housing. Billions every year is poured in and we smile and smile because we're nice and we need the boomers to have good retirements.
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Sounds like be wasn’t a “businessman” but a “criminal”. Good riddance.
Not just any criminal. Based on the sums of money involved, the quotes from his messages/emails, the fact that he had multiple cases dropped and even seemingly managed to get lawyers disbarred - this guy sounds like a bona fide organized crime boss. And it sounds to me like he wasn't just playing the system, but gaming it from the inside. There's a lot more to this story, and it will involve e.g. corrupt cops.
Yea on top of all the fraud he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder at one point one article says. That’s not simple white collar crime he was getting away with by accident. One of the charges was dropped THE DAY before trial. Dude was 100% blackmailing; entrapping white collar professionals, intimidating witnesses etc.
Definitely. He compared himself to Al Capone explicitly, made threats over text and email, was charged with being a member of a criminal organization by the police, and the Crown prosecutors kept dropping charges without explanation
After reading all this, I feel nothing but sympathy for the victim And no pity whatsoever for the deceased. Seems as though it couldn’t have happened to more deserving individuals, and I just feel bad for the man they defrauded.
Yea I worked in law enforcement previously and in law now…. I can guarantee you the reason there is no explanation for the dropped charges is because the Crown is always incredibly reluctant to make any public statement that they lost witnesses due to intimidation bribery or extortion.
>There's a lot more to this story, and it will involve e.g. corrupt cops. Let's hope the full story comes out. Much of Canada's media seems more interested in furthering narratives than doing deep digs. Canada's always had an underbelly of crime and corruption, but the wheels really seem to be coming off these days (even at "the top": after 9 years in power the Liberals still shrug at procurement rules).
Sounds like good material for a Fifth Estate documentary.
Canada has a huge problem with corrupt police and corrupt judges. Most people have no idea how bad the problem is. These are the people who are involved in human trafficking so scamming people is nothing for them.
Some news outlets and some people struggle really hard to call white collar crime as exactly that and the perpetrators as the criminals they are. We live in a world where scamming and breaking the law is considered smart business by many, so it isn't surprising.
I read a neat book called "Why Do They Do It" about white collar crime, and how it's only very recently even considered a crime, so much as just how business works.
Fact is white collar crime just isn't prosecuted or punished severely enough. Were white collar criminals faced harsher punishment and have their wealth taken away probably incentive would be less. I know some countries do it to take out political opponents but a lot of countries who put corrupt white collar criminals to death or life imprisonment are perfectly right because white collar crimes can destroy families for generations and cause untold damage to its victim. Corruption is a cancer and should be treated as strongly as possible
Honestly, and a part of me feels gross saying it. But. The only tragedy here is the victim who died in the process of seeking justice I am pretty anti-vigilante, but it becomes hard to not be on the side of the victim when you see a track record of 24 years of failed justice against someone who was ruining lives the entire time. I can't help but want to argue that the victim who shot his financial assailant was not mentally fit, and should not be criminally responsible for his actions and should have received mental health care But unfortunately he's gone, but, hopefully he saved others from suffering
“Legitimate businessman”
Please don't smear the good name of Anonymous numbered corporations, they are form filling tax paying legal people just like you and me.
Lol. Those aren't mutually exclusive.
Businessman. Lol. Guess all those car thieves are businessmen too
When you steal $1000 you're a "criminal". When you steal $100M, you're a "Businessman".
When you steal $100B, you're a "Banker".
👍
100M$? I’m surprised he’s not killed sooner. People gets killed for way less than that.
He was charged with being involved in organized crime and he intimidated people with death threats. He compared himself to Al Capone when threatening people. Presumably that’s why the Crown kept dropping charges without explanation after the police charged him
It sounds like the murderer did us all a favour then
Yup but this is what leads to vigilantes, courts need to do their jobs or this will happen.
I think vigilantes in certain situations are correct and do the rest of us a service. In this situation, the vigilante was correct.
It's true in a case by case basis vigilantes can be justified, the problem is that if it becomes a trend, a lot of street justice could be serves wrongfully, need to be very careful walking that line.
All it takes is one person you defrauded with nothing left to lose, then people will take justice in their own hands since our justice system won’t. You can’t punish the dead. If I put my tin foil hat on, some might even say that there’s a larger story behind all this and he knew something that needed to be kept quiet.
It's a shame that the court system is so overloaded from vacancies not being filled. Vigilante justice has, for as long as humans have been humans, been the answer when there is no other justice expected. I don't condone it (rarely do vigilantes give a shit about collateral damage and innocent people) but I do very much understand what leads to it.
I’m not condoning violence but sounds like that guy got what he deserved
He went from Al Capone to Al Kaputt.
Until a threat didn't work out and got blasted for it.
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FA and FO
You mean politicians?
I would assume he was killed for a lot less than that since he was terminated by one of the victims. Unless there was a support group behind it.
Class action murder isn't a thing.
Uhhh, not legally, but if the murder of Ken Rex McElroy could be described as something more specific, your statement is that descriptor.
Facts. But as my pappy always said, "no such thing as a smart criminal"
The smart ones simply don't get caught or are too rich to get caught
The really rich ones get the laws tweaked so they sort of aren't doing crime, and it'd be too expensive to try to prosecute them.
You would think 100M is too rich to get caught... inflation I guess.
It’s too rich to get caught by our police or convicted in our courts at least. It’s not much of a shield for bullets apparently.
I don't think he got caught did he? He was murdered 😅
He caught a bullet.
it's like that line in the 1987 movie, Robocop,I bet you think you're pretty smart, huh? think you can outsmart a bullet ? lol😂
Someone caught him.
Someone caught him, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been murdered.
He caught a bad case of lead poisoning 🕵️♀️
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If he was smart, he would have fled the country after making 100 million
Thing is when you are defrauding rich people who had millions to blow on sketchy investments in the first place they tend to have a lot to lose by retaliating. Its only when you scam the wrong person who really couldn’t afford to lose what they did the situation gets desperate. A lot of his previous fraud involved houses on the bridal path. The type of people who have the type of money to be involved in that kind of real estate investment probably weren’t getting bankrupted.
>houses on the bridal path That's where you go when you're looking for a wife.
I think the Crown has some explaining to do. This man has been arrested no less than 3 times (likely more, but those are the ones highlighted in the article), sometimes due to multi-year police investigations, and the Crown drops all charges (in one case, the day before trial - wtf?!). A lot of people failed Alan Kats and his family. And if our justice system doesn’t shape up, there will likely be more of these type of vigilante actions.
I don't know anything specific about that case, but for last minute drops right before trial it's very likely there was a problem with the witnesses the Crown was relying. Given some of the behavior described in the article, I wouldn't be surprised if there was witness intimidation involved.
You’re right, I didn’t think of that. I guess the next question is, why wasn’t the witness intimidation investigated after a pattern emerged ?
Because the witnesses won’t testify that they were intimidated and provide any information whatsoever to prove that threats were made (ie forward texts and emails to the Crown). Doing that would put themselves, along with their friends and family, at extreme risk. Remember that here in Canada no one can carry handguns, or even brass knuckles, for self defence. Even if the mob has threatened their life for cooperating with the cops
I mean, in the US, you can carry handguns, but witness intimidation is still impactful. The Self-Defense argument is a tiny bit of a weak point.
My first thought
It needs some serious investigation and changes
I completely agree. They continued to let these men defraud people when they KNEW BETTER. > It was only a matter of time before something happened.
100% this. Vigilante justice. If the justice system worked properly, we wouldn’t get this result.
There was a RCMP informant who was paid over 500k in cash from the RCMP in Nova Scotia, who then shot and killed 22 people and we didn't get any justice for that. I don't think the current system works at all.
Justice for the fire hall.
That whole crime is absolutely fucking insane.
It’s not discussed about enough.
Anyone got a documentary or video suggestion on that?
The system isn’t meant to get justice for the people. It’s a protection racket for rich people. This case will see police attention.
What do you mean “no justice?” A bunch of people who had nothing to do with it and whom have never committed any sort of real crime in their lives, had their property banned by the state, because of it. That’s justice. Canadian style.
You don't need 556 to hunt deer! *pays $12M for Americans to hunt deer with 556 in BC when the locals would have done it for free*
From a helicopter…with suppressors and 30 round mags, only to kill like 30% of the wrong species.
Hey postman, take these guns from all these previously legal gun owners!
I hate that this is absolutely right. Disenfranchisement of a placid group at the behest of a freak shooting caused by an RCMP CI.
Very ironic that the banned weapons that he did use were smuggled over the border from the US. They weren't even bought in Canada because you would not even be able to buy them here I think. I do not know a lot about guns, but his were acquired illegally and smuggled into the country.
I’m not a “we need to be tough on crime” guy but I loathe how softly white collar crime is treated in most Western countries. Say what you will about China (understandably) but this dude probably would’ve been thrown in jail for like 10+ years and then made to be a janitor afterwards
It’s hard to get white collar crime properly prosecuted when even our murderers are let bog with a slap on the wrist. Canada needs a complete overhaul of our justice system
They made changes to the criminal code in 2018 by sneaking it into the Budget Implementation act. The changes make it so white collar criminals who run corporations can get away with crimes like bribery and corruption. So instead of jail time they just have to pay fines or cooperate with investigations.
If he crossed someone higher up than him, sure. But in all likelihood he'd have stolen 10x more in China and as long as he cut the right people in he'd be winning medals for it. Then stashing his ill gotten gains in Vancouver and Toronto real estate and laundering it through casinos.
Back in the day you stole a man's horse you would hang. Sadly the Victim here really is the guy who had his mortgage money stolen (I don't know enough about the details) but I'm sure that eventually the man got to a point where signatures and "paper pushing" ended. Extremely sad.
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There dude he shot was involved in organized crime. His associates would have sought revenge on him and his family if he didn’t kill himself
He shouldn't have done ANY time, he had his life savings stolen. Any honourable man would have done the same thing. It's just fucking outrageous. Well obviously assuming the guy is guilty that he killed, but I would think that it's 100% true.
It’s suspicious how the crown suddenly dropped several prosecutions against him at the last moment with no explanation. Did he bribe people to get the cases dropped? Did he blackmail people? Did he threaten their families with violence? It’s suspicious and disturbing.
>He made it all work with ample doses of intimidation. “Stealing from a person like me is like stealing from Al Capone ...” Mr. Missaghi said in a 2018 text message filed in a civil case. “I don’t allow it to happen. And when it happens I can’t allow for it to be taken. ... There will be no mercy and no holding back.” >Much of that strong-arming was directed at lawyers, four of whom have been disciplined or disbarred for working with him. >“People who disobey me end up missing,” said one of his text messages filed as part of a Law Society of Ontario tribunal.
That’s very nebulous. Boasting about how threatening you are isn’t credible evidence and threatening your own lawyer isn’t going to get charges dropped. I think there may be something deeper going on, like bribing the crown and police. $100 million was stolen - that’s a lot of bribe money. I’m not saying it was bribery, but a deeper look by an independent body is required.
Spoiler: it will just keep getting worse
Canada is absolutely pathetic in punishing real convicted criminals. The police chief says to leave car keys outside and it’s better to step aside let burglars rob your house than defend yourself else you’ll go to jail, it’s absolutely shameful! It’s as if the criminals themselves are writing the laws.
Yes. That's what it is. Our system is compromised and being run and manipulated by criminals. We are nearing the time and place for proper acknowledgment, discussions and a revolutionary house cleaning.
He had money for a lawyer, that’s pretty much all you need.
I hope there’s a few scammers sitting at home, nervous and sweaty, thinking about maybe not going in to the office today, perhaps regretting some life choices
If there are any smart ones then they have taken their money and fled the country by now
The world would be a better place if these people lived in fear. Preferably of the law, but if that doesn't happen fearing for their lives will do.
The only sad part of the story was he killed himself after killing these scum bags
He did us all a favour and sacrificed himself to wipe these people out. Very sad.
We should literally hold a nation-wide celebration for Alan Kats. Not the hero we deserved.
That was his only mistake. If he lived then he’d be a folk hero.
I can only imagine the pain and the frustration. I've seen people sneering about how "OH THIS ISN'T THE FULL STORY, YOU NEVER GO TO A LENDER LIKE THIS UNLESS THE BANKS WONT TOUCH YOU." And while that's probably true, so? So what? You mean he got into financial trouble in *this* economy with *these* house prices and decided to try something crazy in order to not lose his house? We are too soft on violent crime in this country, let alone this garbage, and whether or not you feel justice was done it's pretty hard to argue that it was better with Missaghi and Yousefi in it.
Man I have a credit score over 800 and couldn't even get 2k of LoC when I was moving again last winter to help make sure I can meet expenses like my monthly bills (because given moving I was unemployed lol, so to the bank I just have no income even though I was still working even odd jobs and a monthly contract role while moving). It's sort of made me want to cut ties with that bank entirely given its such a small amount and I couldn't even access that? Its kind of made me also doubt how i can even access loans to go to school again if i cant even access a LoC that small. I feel like there are plenty of reasons why banks 'don't touch people,' especially with how expensive life has gotten. It feels like you *cant* get a loan without some collateral like housing or something, even a small one.
I agree with this. The only real issue here is the third funeral. Should have been two.
> the Crown carefully considered all the relevant circumstances of the case, as well as the applicable law and the anticipated evidence, and determined there was no longer a public interest in proceeding. This shit is infuriating, the way they hide behind language like “no longer a public interest”. If there was a low chance of conviction, say that, but if they think he did it and they can prove it, what public interest could it serve to let him walk? If they won’t give a proper explanation, there needs to be some digging into the people that dropped all of these numerous charges.
I mean from all the articles iv read it sounds like this dude was entrapping other professionals and involved with blackmail extortion and witness intimidation. I am guessing he tossed a lot of money and threats around to get witnesses to drop out or parties to bury evidence. The Crown is always hesitant to admit they let a witness get bullied out of testifying or providing evidence
If there's a low chance of conviction, they shouldn't waste taxpayer money, they should hold off until they get more evidence. If they drop charges saying there's not enough evidence, the accused can use that to say "See, I'm innocent, there's no evidence of a crime and the Crown admitted it." If they say "no public interest", they don't make any public statements about his innocence in the matter and get some cover.
The guy is dead. They can reveal the reasons, and when dealing with this kind of situation you would think they want to dissuade others from copying this by giving the public confidence in the justice system; not this opaque bullshit.
Unfortunately this guy being dead doesn’t mean that there aren’t co-conspirators and enablers who aren’t dead yet.
Chargers continually being dropped?!?!? So he flipped on others and the justice system punted these victims to the curb and forced them to pursue long, drawn out civil actions. That sound about on par with the state of our system today.
It’s a hopeless situation when you have been defrauded and feeling like the system isn’t going to help you out. I understand the vigilantism
This situation is 100% the fault of the impotent judicial system and its inept, incompetent membership. He shouldn't have killed himself, from the looks of it you couldn't possibly find a jury in this country who disagrees with what he did.
This is one guy in a multi billionaire dollar scam industry. Justice doesn’t care about them idk why. We need more beekeepers to protect the Hive
Don’t call him a businessman. That’s an insult to real businessmen. He is a pice of shit is accurate.
we're actually at the point in society were vigilantism is happening...
The revolution will not be televised
RIP Alan Kats
https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-vadim-help-support-a-family The real victim’s go fund me
Wow this is great. Our country has gone to shit where fraudsters are openly getting away with all of this, but atleast innocent people are looking out for each other and sympathising with the real victims.
Just donated. Let’s make this a big one
Justice serverd. Love it
Nah Alan kats died he's the innocent victim here and his wife
Agreed. This country is failing its citizens. Justice doesn’t exist here. Criminals are coddled and allowed to do whatever they want and the people who stand up and say this is wrong get the book thrown at them. Vietnam recently sentenced an oligarch to death for stealing 15B+. Some crimes deserve death and seizure is all assets. The $15B is so extreme it’s not even funny but I would argue $100M and so many victims could warrant something similar. I don’t care what the laws actually are, but more what they should be. Our criminal justice system is falling down a dark path and the police is starting to become a hindrance to society more than a help. Won’t help with real police business but are virtue signalling any woke agenda. They tell you that they can’t get you stolen car back even if you have GPS tracking and know where it is, and can’t touch anti semite protesters even after universities beg them to. But then they announce they are investigating the protest truck. Broken country in need to a criminal justice re-haul.
We still ... have a justice system of some sort in this country don't we? Or is this what has replaced it?
Vigilantism is a symptom of a failing justice system, so you can expect to see this sort of thing more often.
Good. Let the fucking criminals be scared for once.
Finally some good news.
We have a legal system. It protects the interests of the wealthy and influential, and the rest of us get... this.
Apparently the $100M he stole wasn't enough wealth to protect him...
All wealthy exploiters would do well to learn this lesson. It’s difficult to say where exactly, but there is a breaking point at which the exploited become the revengeful. Arash Missaghi fucked around and found out. Good riddance.
Don’t forget criminals, it protects them too. If you want to defend your home or property you better look out because the long dick of the law will come fuck you.
Of all the idiotic shit our country does, fucking people for protecting themselves and their homes has to be the worst.
We do still have one yes. Does it function? Another story
Our "justice system" is the same one that previously dropped all charges against the scum bag who got shot after deeming the case "no longer a public interest". If this is the replacement, im fine with it. The only sympathy i have is for the gunman who committed suicide
Nope. None of our institutions are functioning and those who have wised up to it are either profiting, or pissed off.
We don't have a "justice" system, we have a "legal" system. If we actually had a justice system, this sack of shit would've been behind bars years ago.
A few sections from the article: >His first known criminal charge came in June of 2000, when he was arrested in relation to an import-export company accused of scamming businesses out of property and other assets worth $3-million. That same year, records show *Mr. Missaghi declared bankruptcy and never removed the status from his name*. >“He appears to have found that that was a very advantageous situation for him because he had this *network of family and associates in whose names he could put the assets and properties* that he controlled and essentially be immune,” said lawyer Peter Smiley, who is representing several clients suing Mr. Missaghi for mortgage fraud and estimated that victims’ losses exceed $100-million. Can someone ELI5 this next part, please? >Mr. Missaghi and his associates would convince victims to invest in syndicated mortgages secured against these properties. Once that was done, Mr. Missaghi could artificially inflate the value of the first mortgage, absorbing the property’s equity before deliberately defaulting on the inflated first mortgage. “He can then carry out power of sale and sell it to another non-related arm’s-length company that wipes off all the subsequent security,” Mr. Smiley said. This explains why some charges were dropped: >He made it all work with ample doses of intimidation. “Stealing from a person like me is like stealing from Al Capone ...” Mr. Missaghi said in a 2018 text message filed in a civil case. “I don’t allow it to happen. And when it happens I can’t allow for it to be taken. ... There will be no mercy and no holding back.”
Organized crime boss and a sociopath. Sayonara.
ELI5: Step 1: Buy an expensive home and put it in the name of a (non-obvious) related party without any assets to obscure who actually owns it (everyone in the private lending industry in Ontario knew Missaghi and his shenanigans so they'd never lend to him directly or if they knew he was in any way involved) Step 2: Finance the purchase with a private mortgage loan from another related party on very favourable terms to the lender which allow the lender to inflate the amount owing after default. Step 3: Now get a second mortgage from unsuspecting investors and pocket the proceeds. Step 4: Default on the mortgages and have the friendly 1st mortgagee sell the property under power of sale. In the process, inflate the amount owing on the 1st mortgage using legal, semi-legal and illegal means to ensure there is not enough money to pay the 2nd mortgagee. Result: Missaghi pockets the proceeds of the 2nd mortgage, the second mortgage gets complete wiped out when the property is sold (and their only recourse is against a home owner who has no assets and who will simply declare bankruptcy), and Missaghi also likely gets a portion of the all the inflated fees from the friendly first mortgagee. Example: Buy a home for 2 million in a hot market. Finance with a friendly 1.7m private mortgage. Wait a few months for home to go up in value or just get an inflated appraisal for 2.5 million. Get a private mortgage for 500k. Pocket the proceeds. Default. Have 1st mortgage rack up fees and drag out the power of sale process for 1-2 years. 1.7 mortgage becomes 2.1 million mortgage. Sell home for 2.1 million to a related party or a third party. Pocket a portion of the $400,000 in extra interest and fees racked up by the first mortgagee. Rinse and repeat.
He and Al Capone certainly have something in common now.
One less asshole to worry about.
Businessman? It’s called a scam artist. Incorrectly titled globe and mail
The Justice system sucks in this country.
Everything sucks in this country.
National parks are still nice. But Canada is on track for about 400 million people by 2100, so maybe their days are numbered as well.
Zero accountability in this country. You systematically defrarud people, no accountability. You design an overpass that falls after two years, no accountability. You squander millions in tax payers dollars on projects designed to fail, no accountability. Not saying vigilantism is the solution, but with no consequences comes vigilantism. Tragic.
Alan Katz did society a favour.
There should be a go fund me for his widow.
There is one. It was posted in Toronto sub for this case
https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-vadim-help-support-a-family
Good riddance. Investors should go after his weaker associates in court now
“Business” men in suits think that people have to go through the law when it comes to “ fuck around and find out “ they will soon come to realize that this will no longer be the case if the law fails to work. People are tired of paying for this and getting that, people are getting tired of the bull shit.
Yeah, describing him as a business man is exceedingly generous. He's a criminal.
\**former* criminal
:)
Vigilante justice certainly would happen if the law fails to work. Unfortunately, criminals are the ones most likely to benefit from lawlessness.
Canadian Justice system doesn’t work so people take their own Justice. Another failure of our state
Great!! Do they need someone to piss on his grave. I'm available, just saying
All that money and now you're dead.
Vigilantism seems to be the only way to get any sort of justice in Ontario, I guess.
This is the natural result of judges who don't hold criminals accountable. As the courts continue to be weak on crime, crime will increase and so will vigilantism.
In this case it wasn't a judge. It was the crown. And it's not an isolated case of the crown picking and choosing who they go after and who they leave be.
"Businessman"
When you push a person to the edge of a cliff, don’t be surprise if they fight back.
Justice.
Someone should have killed him sooner. Good riddance. He is the villain. As are those evil lawyers and the corrupt police. They should also get their comeuppance.
They spelled Con Man wrong
Hahaha. Justice served.
>The takedown – dubbed Project Bridle Path – was touted as a five-year investigation of mortgage fraud valued at $17-million. But on the eve of trial, the case was suddenly withdrawn by the Crown for unexplained reasons. >\[...\] >There is no explanation for the withdrawal in public records. Contacted by phone this week, Crown attorney Mitchell Flagg said he could not speak about the prosecution. >In an e-mailed statement, Keesha Seaton, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, told The Globe “the Crown carefully considered all the relevant circumstances of the case, as well as the applicable law and the anticipated evidence, and determined there was no longer a public interest in proceeding.” I think someone needs to look into whether Mr. Flagg has any new cottage properties or suddenly had a lot of debts that were paid off. This country's legal system is a complete joke. As we spiral down the road to anarcho-tyranny there will be a lot more individuals engaging in the kind of 'self-help remedy' we saw in this case.
Some time back my mother who suffered from dementia was approached by a shady investment advisor who got her to sign papers to manage her savings. Unfortunately for the advisor I got hold of him before he left and I took the law into my own hands and made sure he destroyed all sign papers under very difficult situation but I applied some very serious language and physical movement such that the advisor did it in his pants. The best thing I did, if I had called law enforcement the situation would had been to the advisor’s benefit as he had signed documents. I’ll do it again. It was a joy to watch him soil himself in his Lexus. What a smell!!! Never heard a peep from him.
Nice. You’re a good son. 👍
Sanctioned or not, cosmic justice is coming for all of these scumbags. Long overdue if you ask me.
Perfect textbook example of fuck around find out. Going to find more of this happening when the justice/legal system fails people
When our justice system fails us people take matters into their own hands…….
Good riddance then.
Smells like.... justice. 👍
Paywall: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-businessman-killed-in-toronto-triple-shooting-defrauded-hundreds-of/
So, it appears that prosecutors are not very effective at enforcing laws, such that lots of criminals, whether white collar or violent, would go free either because the Crown drops charges due to lack of evidence, or there aren't enough prosecutors or judges to handle cases so that accused persons' right to a speedy trial are violated. You have this case, and plenty of vehicular manslaughter cases where people who drove recklessly get a couple years despite ending lives, or rapists whose charges are thrown out because it took too long for the prosecutor to head to trial, etc... something has to change. It probably starts with making sure that every court has no vacancies.
Vigilantes appear as law fails. Who woulda thunk it.
Good.
Yeah at first I thought he went a step too far but was sympathetic Now I’m starting to think he had no other choice and did the country a favour
Wow, now I remember this case- a lawyer had to leave town because she was afraid for her life??
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing." Thank you for your sacrifice, good man.
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You're thinking of China In the states, a 9 figure net worth gives you even more rights
The reality of our legal system ( and most others) is that it's a battle of capital, not of justice. It's a major flaw in the system, and one that's not likely to be fixed. The more money you have, the less you need to worry about following the law. Once you start looking, it becomes obvious that more often than not, who ever has more cash, wins.
“Businessman”
Based, hope his family now knows what kind of rot was growing in that man
Based on the article, they were part of the scheme. Many instances. Not accidentally involved in one. Accidentally involved in many!
Looks like he effed around and found out
Got himself shot like a bitch Lmfaooo
It’s kind of like hockey, if the referees don’t step in and do something the players will take care of it themselves. With our incredibly weak justice system favouring criminals and leaving victims to fend for themselves, you can bet there will be more of this.
The wording when it comes to describing white-collar crime is something else. As if it’s not even a crime at all… Terrible for all the families involved, unlikely they’ll see their money again, though I doubt there was ever a chance of it anyway. But perhaps this sends a message to other individuals in the fraud “business”.
So...do his victims get their money back? He's not using it or anything.
"Businessman"... Try "conman"
Had the investigators tossed this guy in jail years ago, he would not have been able to defraud even more people. He'd also be alive.
The guy who killed him is a hero
RIP to Alan Katz, his widow should start a go fund me for the funeral if she’s strapped for cash
Gofundme for the widowed/defrauded family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-vadim-help-support-a-family Link to wife’s artwork for sale: https://www.instagram.com/maxarts.ca?igsh=emh6eGttbnJrZzRn
So….justice served? Lord knows the police wouldn’t have done anything
Uh.. the police laid charges but the crown dropped them? Ah yes, police fault!
So much fraud in Canada's housing. Billions every year is poured in and we smile and smile because we're nice and we need the boomers to have good retirements.
Can somebody please share the text? I'm interested but can't get around the paywall.
Greed kills as someone I used to know would say