Toronto real estate agent charged with fraud, drug possession

Update: The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has confirmed that charges in relation to this case were stayed against the two people charged in early 2021.

Police say they have charged a Toronto-area real estate agent with drug possession and fraud allegedly involving counterfeit bank deposits amounting to nearly $3 million.

Toronto police said the investigation was in relation to the owner of Grange Real Estate, which operates with connections in the Greater Toronto Area and internationally.

In a news release Thursday, investigators said they became aware of fraud allegations in early October and later discovered that counterfeit bank deposits were made into a business account in August 2018.

Following the deposits, police allege several transactions involving transfer, credit and bill payments were made at different bank branches.

On Oct. 16, the financial crimes unit arrested a 50-year-old man and charged him with two counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of attempted fraud over $5,000 and uttering a forged document.

Police said that while executing a search warrant, officers also allegedly discovered a “large quantity” of narcotics and later charged the man with four counts of drug possession and four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

A second suspect, 49-year-old woman, also faces the same drug charges, police said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact police at 416-808-7300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.

— With files from The Canadian Press