Dear Editor,

I am thoroughly enjoying your series on major frauds, especially those that are impacting our community. It takes me back to the 鈥渙ld days鈥� when I worked as court staff between 1979 and 1986 at the Provincial Court, Criminal Division, located at 222 Main St., Vancouver.

The RCMP had a talented and dedicated Commercial Crime section that went after so-called 鈥渨hite collar鈥� crime. I recall Sgt. Peter Montague, Mike Ryan (who later was in my class at law school) and Cpl. Rick McMullan (later of Campbell Burton McMullan) as three of the lead investigators The RCMP offered professional university degrees to their members in those days, and supported them through accounting and law degrees. The catch was that they had to use those degrees for the benefit of the RCMP for a certain number of years after they graduated. I鈥檓 not sure the numbers, but they could also pay it back in cash.

This team investigated high level and complicated crimes.

Their lead prosecutor was Patricia Donald, one of the most brilliant lawyers I ever knew. Often the Crown seconded John Hall, whose skill at cross-examination was unparalleled. He and Pat had so-called sophisticated witnesses eating out of their hands and explaining the scams in details. Mike Ryan, Patricia Donald and John Hall are all now long retired. Their contributions to justice were enormous.

I was a 鈥渃ourt recorder鈥� at the time, and I always put up my hand to volunteer to record and transcribe these hearings. They were detailed and complex. Not your average run of the mill DUI or common assault.

I am troubled at the lack of resources committed by the RCMP and the attorney general (federally and provincially) to these crimes.

The Murrayville House fraud committed by Mark Chandler left our community littered with victims who lost thousands of dollars. Many of the units were sold multiple times, and Chandler walked away without so much as a slap on the wrist. Some of those would be pre-sale purchasers put in their life savings so they could live close to 91原创 Memorial Hospital and others were just getting into the market. Almost all of them lost their down payments.

I was not aware of the road-building fraud. Good grief, how much do our citizens have to suffer before they are taken seriously.

Chandler was pursued by the State of California where he is now serving a sentence. The Canadian victims will see no such justice and recovery is impossible. Unfortunately the USA will send him back to us when he is released. The real question is will he re-skin himself and do it all over again? What steps are the RCMP or the courts in Canada prepared to take to put an end to this criminality?

I was approached in the beginning to assist with the legal work on his behalf. I inquired as to who this fellow was and was informed 鈥渉e is the largest developer in 91原创.鈥� I remarked I had not heard of him and the response was 鈥淲ell, I guess you just don鈥檛 run in those circles.鈥�

I declined the work because, as the story goes 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 run in those circles.鈥�

Please keep up the good fight, Matthew [reporter Matthew Claxton]. This and other issues are important to bring to the attention of the general public, and we are now more vulnerable than ever especially with the proliferation of social media and the demographics of our populations.

Rebecca L. Darnell, Willowbrook

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