Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Pastor Who Agreed To Hold Mortgage On $18M Sale Of Church, School, Day Care To Developer Fails To Have Documents Recorded; Winds Up Facing The Boot After Having Entire Property Fraudulently Financed Out From Under Him

In Edmonton, Alberta, CBC News reports:
  • A bad business deal between an evangelical pastor and an accused con man has cost the church’s congregation its church, school and daycare.

    On Friday, a judge ordered the final sale of the Victory Christian Center at 11520 Ellerslie Road. The congregation will have to be out by the end of July.
***
  • Both the church and a second mortgage holder, Edmonton dentist Ram Singh, will receive nothing from the sale. The first mortgage holder, Romspen Investments, will receive the proceeds of the sale but will still lose about $8 million.

    “This is a difficult case for everyone involved,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Juliana Topolniski told the court. “It is difficult for the congregation, the children at the school, for the daycare, and for Dr. Singh.”
***
  • Court documents show Victory Church pastor Cal Switzer sold the Victory property to developer Kevyn Frederick in August 2008 for $18 million. Frederick transferred the land to a numbered company he controlled but did not register the mortgage, which would have guaranteed the property reverted back to the church if he did not make his payments.(1)

    The documents show Frederick made a down payment of $2.8 million but paid nothing more.

    The property fell into foreclosure and eventually a judicial sale was ordered.

    As part of the original deal, Frederick was supposed to provide the church with land in Leduc for a new church. But documents show he also reneged on that deal.

    Court documents show Switzer inexplicably cut the deal with Frederick on behalf of the church without any independent legal advice.
For more, see Southside church duped by accused con man, sold in forced sale (Church congregation, school and daycare must leave by end of July).

(1) See Edmonton Journal: Web of mortgages left Leduc condo owners, Edmonton church in limbo:
  • The August 2008 deal was supposed to be guaranteed by a mortgage defaulting the land back to the church if something went wrong.

    However, within a few days, Frederick mortgaged half of $12.3 million to Ram Singh, his future partner at Bellavera, and the remainder to his other holdings.