WATCH: We now know what’s behind a nearly year-long trial: Vimal Iyer faces 40 charges relating to several land development schemes. Fletcher Kent explains.
EDMONTON — We now know the details of a jury trial scheduled to last 42 weeks in Edmonton. The accused, Vimal Chandra Iyer, faces 40 counts of fraud.
In late December, 5,000 Albertans received a summons for jury selection at Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton for a trial slated to last almost a year.
Iyer was arrested in 2011 on fraud and theft charges related to his company Trident Properties Ltd.
The previous year, an investigation was done by the Alberta Securities Commission. The commission ruling said Trident and Iyer bought and sold agricultural land on the premise that it was suitable for urban, residential or industrial development in the near future. They raised about $6.5 million by selling undivided interests, or UDIs, to more than 100 Alberta investors
The commission ordered Iyer to pay $140,000 for breaching the Securities Act by not registering Trident securities before trading them. He also had to cover $10,000 in investigation costs.
The commission ruled “Trident will cease trading in all securities… Iyer will resign all positions as a director or officer of any issuer and shall not hold such a position until the expiry of eight years … He cannot solicit further investment or funds from those who have already purchased Trident UDIs… Iyer will cease trading in all securities.”
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If selected for a trial, jurors are paid $50 per day, according to provincial law. Some expenses are covered, including lunches, parking, mileage and bus fare.
However, there’s some concern about the toll such a long trial could take on jurors.
“I cannot honestly foresee a way I could survive that way,” said Chris Falconer, who received a summons on Christmas Eve. “I’d have to sell my house or move in with my father or girlfriend or something and really change my life. It would really be a massive hit on my situation in the world.
“Fifty dollars a day, $1,000 a month doesn’t even pay half the mortgage.”
Iyer will be in court Jan. 19 to speak to the charges.
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