Vancouver police have charged two men — including a former real estate agent — with more than a dozen counts of mortgage fraud totalling more than $2 million.
One-time realtor Sunny Kular and a co-accused allegedly defrauded a series of banks between 2003 and 2005.
"This was a larger than normal file with respect to the total number of individual mortgages,” said police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton.
“In the end, Crown laid 14 separate charges," said Houghton, who noted the investigation took five years to complete.
“Five years is a very long time for any investigation and financial crime investigations are often some of the most complex investigations because they require forensic audits,” he said.
Banks tend to under-report mortgage fraud, said lawyer Ron Usher, who has studied the problem.
"I'm sure it's quite embarrassing to banks because in a way, it reflects a failure of their lending systems," Usher said.
The bottom line is that customers pay, he said.
"That cost then is passed on to every home buyer."