Man charged in $4.1 million condo fraud
The Hamilton Spectator
By David Churchill
21 May 2015

"Some people will say these are rare occurrences, but no, no, no, no, it's not," she added. "Fraud in the condo industry is very common."
—Anne-Marie Ambert of the Condo Information Centre

A St. Catharines man has been charged with defrauding 13 Hamilton and Burlington condominium corporations of $4.1 million.

Police say Brett Mackenzie Leahey, 45, acted as the owner/operator of Integrated Condominium Management, a property management firm responsible for servicing and managing the finances of 10 condominium corporations in Burlington and three in Hamilton.

Integrated Condominium Management has its address listed as Suite 300 - 1100 Burloak Dr. in Burlington.

Among allegations, police claim Leahey forged property maintenance invoices and contracts, fraudulently charged the condominiums for work not completed and moved assets from the corporations to his business accounts for personal use.

Halton police say the crimes occurred between March 2009 and September 2014. The arrests came after a lengthy investigation.

"Our investigation would indicate that Mr. Leahey clearly took advantage of the position entrusted to him by these corporations for his own personal gain," said Detective Const. Derek Wilson of the Halton Regional Police Fraud Unit.

Leahey is charged with defrauding the public, seven counts of fraud over $5,000, three counts of laundering proceeds of crime, 11 counts of uttering forged document and two counts of possession of proceeds of crime.

Who is/was Intergrated Condominium management?

This is/was their latest Home page. It's nothing more than a place-holder.




Back in 2011, their Home page was more elaborate. Notice the claimed
industry affiliations? True or not, who would bother to check? Looks impressive though.

Self-promotion
In previous versions of the site, here is how they describe themselves:

CM formed in 1999, when we began making principal investments in the condominium industry. Eventually, we committed all our resources to the condominium industry and started managing condominiums with an extensive network of affiliates. Condominium management proved so successful that we formed Drummond, Mackenzie & Associates in 2005 to advise condominium investment partnerships which later formed what is now Integrated Condominium Management.

By 2008, several companies started working with ICM which allowed us to fully manage condominiums with the utmost preparedness, knowledge and success.

We are committed to the condominium industry in Canada as a core business. We are integrally involved in all aspects of management and feel that we enhance the advantages of private ownership by offering our clients a full range of services

•	In a world of giant organizations with a broad array of services, there is room for a small firm with the highest levels of professionalism, integrity, and senior-level attention to clients and relationships.
•	The firm will only be involved in friendly situations, supporting strong teams and relationships.
•	Our clients always come first. We ensure that their needs, their property's needs and their community's needs are put ahead of all else.
•	Our main goals include gaining and maintaining positive relationships among ourselves, our clients, our clients’ contractors, and the owners in the communities that our clients are elected to represent.

It reminds me of all the marketing bull that I found on Channel's website. Designed to impress the easily impressed.

top  contents  chapter  previous  next