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Crimson-JH

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Posts posted by Crimson-JH


  1. Uh oh… Prab Rai is in serious trouble.. Who remembered him?

     

    Judge freezes assets of former Canuck draft pick facing $2.8-million fraud allegation

    Lawsuit states Prab Rai, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 NHL draft, held himself out to be a successful and wealthy business person.

    Aug 29, 2022  •  6 hours ago  •  3 minute read •  Join the conversation 
     

    Canucks' prospect Prab Rai in 2010.Canucks' prospect Prab Rai in 2010. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /Vancouver Sun

    A B.C. judge has frozen the assets of a former Vancouver Canucks draft pick who is being sued over allegations he defrauded a realtor of more than $2.8 million.

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    Harpreet Singh Khela, the realtor, claims that Prab Rai, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 NHL draft, held himself out to be a successful and wealthy business person, purporting to have important connections with prominent local and international business people and retired hockey players.

     

    Canucks’ prospect Prab Rai at training camp in 2009.Canucks’ prospect Prab Rai at training camp in 2009. Photo by Jason Payne /PROVINCE

    He says that Rai provided to him phoney emails, financial statements, agreements and documents from those prominent business people and retired professional hockey players in order to fraudulently induce him to transfer more than $2.8 million for real estate developments and other investments.

    The alleged schemes included a San Diego development property, a Tim Hortons franchise, and the purchase of the Sutton Hotel in Vancouver.

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    Khela claims that Rai convinced him to advance $2.4 million as a deposit to buy the hotel for $200 million.

    Another alleged scheme involved Rai telling Khela that a prominent former Canuck player was interested in purchasing commercial real estate located in Alberta that Khela held shares in.

    Khela claims that starting in 2017 and continuing to about October 2020, Rai told him that they had earned significant profits from their purported ventures and then concealed the fraud by telling him a false story that the profits had been frozen by the U.S. government and were unavailable.

    He claimed that in October 2020, Khela was told that Rai had been kidnapped on his way to the airport, beaten and robbed of his hard drive, which contained all of his bank account information, and that all of his money was gone.

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    Following the “fantastical'” kidnapping story, Khela says he began to investigate his business dealings with Rai and discovered the alleged fraud.

    “Prab Rai’s stories to Khela about the profits earned by their business ventures were a lie. There are no profits, and there were no IRS investigations or frozen accounts,” says the lawsuit.

    “Prab Rai told these false stories for the purpose of preventing Khela from commencing legal proceedings to trace and recover the funds that he advanced to Prab Rai.”

    Rai, a junior hockey star out of Surrey, signed a contract with the Canucks in 2010, but his hockey career was sidelined due to injuries he suffered in a car accident, according to media reports.

    In his response filed in court, Rai said that over the course of many years, Khela had actively attempted to ingratiate himself with Rai and involve, or associate himself with, Rai’s legitimate business pursuits.

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    “The plaintiff’s efforts were motivated by the plaintiff’s considerable financial aspirations, lack of independent financial resources, and indebtedness to third parties,” says the response.

    “When Mr. Rai sought to limit his involvement with the plaintiff, the plaintiff, in an effort to forestall his own creditors, began making a series of sweeping, unfounded allegations against Mr. Rai and, still further, Mr. Rai’s immediate family members.”

    The lawyers representing Rai later withdrew from the case. Rai, who told the judge in the asset case that he owed his lawyers $80,000, could not be reached for comment.

     

    Prab Rai makes a big hit on Calgary Flames’ Lance Bouma during pre-season action at Rogers Arena in 2010.Prab Rai makes a big hit on Calgary Flames’ Lance Bouma during pre-season action at Rogers Arena in 2010. Photo by Steve Bosch /PNG

    After the lawsuit was filed, Khela went to court and sought an order freezing Rai’s assets.

    In her ruling on the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick noted that the only substantive assets of Rai are two Lamborghini luxury vehicles with a combined value of about $1.2 million.

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    She concluded that the legal test had been made to order the freezing of the assets and found there was a real risk of dissipation of those assets. The judge ordered that Rai provide a list of his assets and not dispose of them.

    Several of Rai’s family members, including his brother, who is a former RCMP officer, are also named as defendants and have filed documents denying they were involved in any fraudulent activity.

    An amended lawsuit was filed in September 2021. The judge’s ruling was given orally in October 2021, with a written copy of that ruling attached to the court file.

    A 15-day trial is scheduled to begin in January 2024.

     

    https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/judge-freezes-assets-of-former-canuck-draft-pick-facing-2-8-million-fraud-allegation

    • Sad 2
  2. 1 hour ago, Vinny in Vancouver said:

    So much for it being a family decision that Treliving and Johnny's agent said it was - Columbus is not a close drive to Gaudreau's birthplace in Salem, New Jersey, and it's not close to Philadelphia (his wife's home)...Hmm, maybe Johnny Gaudreau thinks that the Columbus Blue Jackets play in Columbus, New Jersey???

    Still a lot closer than Calgary! It’s only an 1 hour and 30 mins nonstop flight from Columbus to Philadelphia. 

  3. 3 hours ago, PetterssonOrPeterson said:

    anyone find it a little odd that these awards weren't delayed until the finals were over? 

    like you couldn't have waited a week or 2 until everything was finished to hand out these awards?

     

    Especially for players in the finals right now who should be locked in 100%, this might be a distraction. 

     

    Nothing big, just find the NHL's scheduling weird.

     Not only that, this year’s awards show is no longer take place on stage in Vegas, no red carpet events, no public tickets, no after-party, etc. It was just a low-key event only televised. 

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