It was earlier this week in Montreal when RCMP arrested Kihn Ho Quan, 56, and Hermel Bosse, 58, with over $4.5 million worth of mortgage fraud. The arrest came after four grueling years of the RCMP following the men and trying to collect enough evidence against them. While over the course of those years, it’s believed that Quan and Bosse have taken part in 80 illegal mortgage transactions, they were charged with just 20 of those this week. In their wake they leave many victims including private individuals, lenders, and the CMHC.
The fraud included only first mortgages, as Quan and Bosse would not be able to pull off the same scheme by taking out a second mortgage on any home. Instead, the two men would find people with really good credit history and offer to pay them a few thousands dollars in exchange for their good credit history. Once the person had agreed, Quan and Bosse would then increase their income and any other financial paperwork, in order to make it as easy as possible for them to get a home loan. They would also take part in nominee transactions, something that is not done very often in Canada when a buyer wishes to remain anonymous.
The two men have been caught and are looking at a court date of March 30 in Montreal but, that’s not where the sad story ends. Because there are still all those unpaid mortgages out there, someone has to pay them off. And who will that be? Those unsuspecting individuals with good credit. Many of them have been forced to pay off mortgages they didn’t even know existed, or are able to afford; a few of them have been forced into bankruptcy because of the situation. And their credit history? For many of them, now it’s completely ruined because a mortgage that was never going to be paid back has now been taken out in their name.
The RCMP released a statement along with news of the arrest saying, “mortgage fraud is a form of crime increasingly observed by the police,” and as this type of crime continues, they probably don’t have a choice. While many of us may have never heard of mortgage fraud before, this isn’t the first time Montreal has seen it. In 2010 police arrested Robert Manuel Moniz, also of Montreal, for being involved in mortgage fraud worth over $5 million. His court appearance is scheduled for February 13, 2012.
