Alleged mortgage fraud victims still not off the hook for payments after criminal charges laid

Through 18 years of friendship, Eunice Chan said she'd built a bond with Po Yuk "Peggy" Chan. They travelled the world together, were part of the same church community — and Eunice Chan even introduced her friend to members of her family.

"[If] she asked me to do anything, I would do that because I trusted her," Eunice told CBC News in an interview.

She is now embroiled in a series of lawsuits involving former real estate agent and mortgage broker Peggy Chan, alleging her longtime friend defrauded her of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It's a surprise, it's a shock.... I know I was cheated by someone," she said.

CBC News first reported on the allegations about Peggy Chan in February 2023. Last month, York Regional Police announced that the Markham, Ont., woman had been charged with multiple fraud-related offences.

Police allege that from 2016 to 2021, the former agent defrauded people who did not speak or read English well by registering mortgages on their homes and withdrawing the proceeds. Through her lawyer, she denies the allegations.

Even with the criminal charges, some of the alleged victims who spoke to CBC News are still on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars from the mortgages. As the lenders seek to collect, some alleged victims are now at risk of losing their homes.

Experts say this is the reality with many fraud cases: Even when criminal charges are laid — and even when there's a conviction — the burden lies with the victims to try to recover the money through civil lawsuits. They say the process is challenging, time-consuming and can leave some financially devastated.

York Region police say the criminal charges involve five alleged victims, including Eunice Chan and Tina Li, both of Markham, who spoke to CBC News earlier this year.

Eunice claims that in 2021, Peggy Chan — who is not related to her — approached her with the idea of purchasing an investment property together.

She said Peggy, 50, convinced her to open up a joint bank account, and she was taken to a lawyer's office to sign paperwork. Eunice said she believed the paperwork was related to the purchase of the property.

"At that time, I didn't have any doubts," said Eunice, who in court documents alleges she was rushed through the paperwork at the lawyer's office and was then visited by Peggy at her home to sign more paperwork.

She said her friend later told her the purchase wasn't moving ahead. It wasn't until about a year later that Eunice said she received a letter from a lawyer about a $300,000 mortgage on her own property.

The 64-year-old said she later learned that two mortgages had been taken out on her home — one for $850,000, another for $300,000 — without her knowledge. The proceeds, she claims, were deposited into the joint account and then later withdrawn by Peggy.