Crown calls for prison sentence for Ponzi scheme

VANCOUVER – A Crown lawyer says a British Columbia woman who bilked 28 investors out of millions of dollars and potentially compromised the Canadian economy should get a seven- to eight-year prison sentence.

Kevin Marks told a provincial court sentencing hearing Tuesday that Rashida Samji masterminded a Ponzi scheme between 2003 and 2012 and involved a financial planner to enlist investors.

The B.C. Securities Commission found in July 2014 that Samji and two companies she controlled committed over $100 million in fraud involving more than 200 investors.

In May, Samji was convicted of 28 counts of fraud and theft, but the theft charges were stayed and Tuesday’s sentencing hearing moved forward with the remaining 14 fraud counts.

Marks said Samji lied to a cousin, a friend she’d known for 40 years, and even solicited money for a company that she told investors was expanding its operations to a winery in South Africa.

The Mark Anthony Group had hired Samji as a notary because her business was close to the company’s offices, but it had no connection to the scam she was perpetrating, Marks said.

“She jeopardized the reputation of the Mark Anthony Group,” he said of the woman who was paying investors with their own money instead of up to 12 per cent a year in interest.

“There’s no question that this fraud was humongous,” Marks said, adding Samji collected investments ranging from $50,000 to $12 million.

They lost between $44,000 and $8 million in one case and have suffered physical, emotional and financial hardships, Marks said.

He said Samji’s lies came to light in 2012 when Coast Capital Savings issued an alert saying that a financial planner was promoting a Ponzi scheme involving the now-disgraced notary.

“At some point the merry-go-round will end because it’s just a house of cards,” Marks said. “In order for the Ponzi scheme to work, more money needs to come in and once that stops, so does the Ponzi scheme.”

The RCMP launched an investigation, and last year the B.C. Securities Commission fined Samji $33 million.

Marks read from 11 victim impact statements, in which bilked investors wrote about the shame they feel for having trusted Samji.

“At this age and stage of my life it’s financially impossible to recover,” said retired teacher Amrit Dhaliwal, who invested $460,000 and lost $424,000.

Dhaliwal said her investment included an inheritance from her father and that she was forced to sell her family home of 20 years.

Andreas Manning, who met Samji through a business colleague, lost $8 million of the $12-million-investment he made.

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed for allowing myself to be so gullible,” he said.

Marks said that while the defence maintains Samji should not be imprisoned because she has declared bankruptcy and her elderly father is dependent on her, her sentence should reflect the losses suffered by her victims.

He said Samji’s defence lawyers have said the woman was treated for breast cancer and depression before the fraud, but those issues should not factor into the judge’s sentencing decision.

“At the end of the day, how did this have any connection to the crime committed by Ms. Samji?”