Law Society of Ontario moves to suspend Raj Grewal’s licence citing evidence of ‘significant risk of harm to the public’ & ‘the administration of justice’

In a stunning move on Friday, the Law Society of Ontario filed a motion to suspend or restrict the legal licence of former Brampton MP Raj Grewal, citing “a significant risk of harm to members of the public, or to the public interest in the administration of justice”.

The LSO states in its motion for Interlocutory Suspension or Restriction, filed Friday July 10 with the Law Society Tribunal, that based on investigations “there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a significant risk of harm to members of the public, or to the public interest in the administration of justice, if the order is not made and that making the order is likely to reduce the risk."

A similar motion was filed by the LSO Thursday, July 9, seeking the suspension or restriction of Davinder Khattra’s licence; he’s a lawyer who works for the firm Grewal founded, RSG Law, whose name represents the former politician’s initials.

The Pointer has been reporting since mid-May on the legal troubles facing RSG Law and Grewal, which began last year and have cascaded in recent weeks following The Pointer’s reporting. Roughly a dozen lawsuits have since been filed alleging Raj Grewal and Davinder Khattra failed to pay back loans despite court orders, unlawfully removed and moved dozens of mortgages from the title of properties across Ontario and repeatedly failed to transfer funds from the proceeds of property sales to financial institutions. 

Scotiabank sought a court order to freeze the accounts of RSG Law after more than $6 million from fake cheques were deposited in April into the account of a lawyer with close ties to Grewal. The bank’s investigation determined that more than $3.3 million of the fraudulent funds ended up in the bank account of RSG Law, and The Pointer’s subsequent investigation tied individuals with direct connections to Grewal who moved the fraudulent funds that eventually ended up in RSG Law’s account. 

The Bank of Montreal then conducted its own investigation after connections between the bank and the fake cheque scheme were made. It found another lawyer with direct ties to Grewal also deposited more than $6.6 million from fraudulent cheques at the same time in April, and that more than $2.5 million of those funds were transferred to a numbered company directed by a man who was listed as the vice president of operations for Grewal’s development business, RSG Group.

One of the lawsuits filed against Raj Grewal recently includes an allegation that he was “desperate” for money last year when the plaintiff in that case provided a loan for close to $1 million. The judge in the case has ordered Grewal to pay back what is now $1.3 million owing, including interest. Grewal was also ordered to hand over two of his houses in Brampton, which the plaintiff has since put up for sale for $2.8 million each.

Grewal violated the court’s order in the case, and in June was ordered to repay $1.3 million within ten days.

The Waryah family told The Pointer that Raj Grewal personally promised to pay back $714,000 owed to them by RSG Law, which failed to transfer the family’s mortgage funds after a home sale. After he failed to return the money when promised they filed a lawsuit against RSG Law and Davinder Khattra last month.

There have since been more than ten lawsuits filed against Raj Grewal, Khattra and RSG Law, alleging a range of real estate and mortgage fraud, with disturbing evidence of forgery, illegal discharges of mortgages and ownership titles. 

“The Law Society is conducting investigations into the respondent’s conduct regarding allegations that he (Grewal): May have misappropriated and/or misapplied trust monies or monies imposed with a trust; May have knowingly participated in, facilitated or otherwise failed to prevent dishonesty, fraud, crime or illegal conduct; May have misled; May have failed to act with honour and integrity.”

The LSO’s alarming motion continues.

“There are reasonable grounds, arising out of the investigations, to believe that there is a significant risk of harm to members of the public and/or to the public interest in the administration of justice if an order under section 49.27 of the Law Society Act is not made; An interlocutory order suspending/restricting the licence of the respondent is likely to reduce the risk of harm.”

The motion seeking the suspension or restriction of Davinder Khattra’s licence is almost identical to the motion the LSO filed against Grewal.

Raj Grewal is a former Brampton MP. He stepped down in 2018 after acknowledging a gambling problem and racking up millions of dollars in debts at an Ottawa-area casino.

(The Pointer files)
 

The unusual action now being taken by the Law Society of Ontario against Raj Grewal, comes after the flurry of recent lawsuits filed against him, his father Avtar, his wife, Khattra and the law firm founded by the former Brampton MP, RSG Law.

The Pointer first reported that RSG Law was connected to the multi-million fraud investigation launched by Scotiabank in May. Immediately following publication of that story on May 14, the website of RSG Law was reduced to a single “Contact Us” page, and the site for Raj Grewal’s development company, RSG Group, was taken offline. The Pointer has since expanded its coverage of the ongoing fraud investigation, exposing how many of the numbered companies tied to more than $12 million in fake cheques have connections to Raj Grewal, his father Avtar or RSG Law.  

On May 25, development consortium WIGI Restructured Bond Corporation launched a $5.5 million lawsuit against RSG Law over allegations the law firm conspired with Avtar, Raj Grewal’s father, and others to avoid paying a multi-million-dollar mortgage WIGI held on a piece of land in the Brantford area.

On June 5, Harvinderjit and Surinder Waryah filed a statement of claim against RSG Law and its lawyer Davinder Singh Khattra for breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuit alleges the defendants, RSG Law and Khattra, failed to properly execute their duties to transfer $715,000 in mortgage funds after Nitan Waryah purchased his parents’ house. The transfer was done at the same time RSG Law had its trust accounts frozen as a result of being linked to the fraud investigation ongoing at Scotiabank.

Raj Grewal is also being sued in a number of other separate lawsuits, with allegations including he allegedly failed to make payments on a $25 million property in Brampton and an alleged scheme to defraud lenders out of $1.6 million in connection to the piece of land in Oakville the Grewals purchased.

He is also the first defendant named in an explosive $137 million lawsuit filed by a group of private lenders alleging widespread fraud against Raj Grewal. The group is seeking the appointment of a receiver to secure about 40 collateralized properties connected to Grewal and the firm he founded, RSG Law, mostly located in Brampton and Mississauga.

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