VANCOUVER — A former notary who ran a Ponzi scheme in British Columbia that defrauded investors of more than $100 million has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Provincial court Judge Gregory Rideout said Wednesday that Rashida Samji "knew exactly what she was doing and went forward with eyes wide open."
The court heard that Samji collected money ranging from $50,000 to $12 million from investors over a nine-year period.
She was found guilty in May of 28 counts of fraud and theft, but 14 counts of theft were stayed.
Investors lost between $44,000 and $8 million from 2003 to 2012, Crown prosecutor Kevin Marks said.
Rashida Samji cuffed, led out of the court. One of her fraud victims said "bye Rashida" as she left. 6 years for $200 million Ponzi scheme
— Kurtis Doering (@KDnewsguy) September 28, 2016
Marks told the court during the woman's sentencing hearing on Tuesday that the victims have suffered physical, emotional and financial hardships.
They had no idea Samji was paying them with their own money instead of up to 12 per cent a year in interest, he told the court.
The Mark Anthony Group, which hired Samji as a notary, was also unaware it had become embroiled in the scheme that had Samji telling investors the company was expanding its winery operations to South Africa, court heard.
The B.C. Securities Commission fined Samji $33 million after it found she and two companies she controlled committed over $100 million in fraud involving hundreds of investors.
Samji, who declared bankruptcy in 2012, was forced to sell her home and now rents a condo, her lawyer, Richard Peck, told court on Tuesday, adding many of her friends now shun her.
He said Samji was in debt, had surgery for breast cancer and suffered from depression before the scheme was hatched and that when it was discovered, she tried to end her life by overdosing on sleeping pills.
Her mother had died and her brother, a pilot, was killed in a plane crash in British Columbia's Okanagan region, leaving her to care for her 90-year-old father, Peck said.
Samji's health will continue to be monitored for the rest of her life, he said, suggesting the various events she'd experienced may partly explain her criminal behaviour.
"There has to be a some spark that takes this otherwise ordinary citizen and gets her involved in a Ponzi scheme," he said. "Any sane person knows that a Ponzi scheme does not last, cannot last."
However, Marks said many people deal with tragedies but don't commit crimes, especially of such a magnitude and for so long, adding the sentence should reflect the suffering of the innocent victims who lost their life savings.
Two of the 28 investors made some money, becoming "net winners" but they consider themselves "net losers" because they're embroiled in ongoing lawsuits, Marks said.
