A Mississauga husband and wife team who taught Canadian courses for Trump University was found to have been involved in a lot of dubious activities via a joint investigation conducted by The Associated Press and The Canadian Press.
The couple, Dave Ravindra and Rita Bahadur, used aliases, lost a real estate licence, declared multiple bankruptcies and were involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud swindle. They taught Trump courses in Canadian cities 6 years ago.
Shady Speakers and Staff?
Prior to this, Trump assured people who were registering for his program that only the best people whom he had handpicked himself will teach the financial success courses at his facility. Still, people with spotty credentials (like the couple in this article) were found to be teaching at Trump University, both in the US and now in Canada.
In the past, The Associated Press has already reported about four convicted felons being part of the roster of Trump University?s staff and speakers. The felons included a former army sergeant who was court-martialed for molesting the 8-year old daughter of a fellow soldier and Florida cocaine-trafficker. About half of the 68 reviewed staffers have backgrounds which included home foreclosures, tax liens, credit card defaults, personal bankruptcies, or other indicators of money troubles.
Partners in Crime?
The Associated Press also has records which show that Canadian courses were taught by people masquerading as someone else but were actually Chandramattie Dave and Ravindra Dave from Mississauga, Ontario. The same couple who migrated to Canada from Guyana decades ago and whose names can be seen in provincial securities and federal bankruptcy records.
Industry Canada records showed that the couple has filed for numerous personal bankruptcies in the past, at least 4 times since 2001. It also came to light that the couple used at least 9 different names, mainly combinations of their names or a mixing of the order of the middle, first, and last name.
Last year, Ontario?s stock-market regulator found out that the couple defrauded numerous Canadian investors from 2009 to 2012. A certain ?Dave Ravindra? with the same home address was also found to have been stripped off of his real estate licence in Ontario before he lectured for Trump University.
Fraud Uncovered
The Ontario Securities Commission also concluded that Ravindra Dave started two investment companies about 10 years ago but those companies were never registered. The same companies sold securities without the OSC?s permission as well.
Real estate seminars were organized in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario by the couple. During the seminars, they urged people to invest with a promise that the fixed returns will be at least 10% per year. They were able to make 34 investors purchase CDN$5.4 million worth of unregistered securities. The investors lost most of their money, as shared by the securities regulator.
The settlement document said that Ravindra and Chandramattie were engaged in fraudulent conduct and used other people?s funds for their personal benefit.
The 2015 settlement said that of the invested money, $750,000 went to the couple?s family members, $90,000 went to their mortgage payments, $1 million went to the companies they controlled, and $150,000 paid down their credit card bills.
A former investor shared that the fraud has taken an emotional and financial toll on her family but declined to say more about the case.
The couple was given 29 penalties in the settlement agreement as a result of their actions, including a fine for $300,000, $25,000 for administrative costs, and $3.3 million to be given back to people they?ve hurt through the years. Chandramattie Dave is also now permanently banned from trading securities while Ravindra Dave is banned for 20 years. They can no longer manage investment funds or serve as officers or directors of any companies that deal with securities. We can all breathe a bit better now.
Worried that you?re dealing with the wrong sort of people? Invest in your future by getting answers with the help of private investigation services. Contact us at our Mississauga Head office today to find out more how we can help you against fraud. When it comes to investing, it is always better to be safe than sorry!
