First of all, my apologies for the extended version of this post. I'll try to be as brief as I can.

I moved to Canada about 9 years ago with my family. Unfortunately at that time we did not have resources such as CD, etc to help make the move a little bit easier. The books & reading materials are only so interesting & personal experience is far more educational.

At the time (a little after the Gulf War) alot of people were moving out of the Middle East. At the church there were flyers handed out that told of a gentleman in Toronto who would pick you up at the airport, provide housing, take you around to get all your legal documentation, provide collateral for your financial documentation, help you find a job & rent a place- all for CAD$1500. If you did ultimately buy a house through his real estate agency he would refund you 50% of your initial payment!

This sounded like an exceptional deal. Everything that we wanted & needed & a 50% deal at that. Also we got the flyer at church. Surely anything you receive in a religious venue cant be bad, right?

Wrong!

We waited with our entire luggage at the airport for 2 hours before he came to pick us. We preferred to stay at a rental place as we were five people, instead he took us to his house & made us stay there with his family (can you say cramped??), he talked volumes & impressed us with his knowledge- but the service was alot worse. He took us to get our SIN and OHIP cards by dumping as at the buildings & showing up hours later to pick us up. Alot of our time each day used to pass in waiting for hours for him to pick us up. He took us to Zellers, Canadian Tire & Wal-mart & again dumped us outside & told us he'd be back in a few hours.

Every evening my mom would help in the kitchen and I would wash the dishes at the end of the night (dishes that served 10 people). He did not force us to help in the kitchen- but I will talk about the reasons we did that for, in a bit.

He helped us rent a car by again dumping us at a dealership and coming in at the last minute to co-sign. We got our banking & rental apartment the same way. When we moved out we paid him another $3000 to thank him for putting up with us at his house. We did not realize at the time how much money that really was.

In brief- we were royally duped- but mostly by ourselves. Everything you read in the books is not enough to protect yourself from a situation like this. You're in a new country, you're especially vulnerable, if you saw people outside the window doing cartwheels to move around you'd do the same in an effort to acclimatize yourself to your new surroundings.

We should have insisted on living in a motel or rental apartment as soon as we got here, but the thought that he was a fellow Indian & opening his doors to us made us feel less homesick & happy to know such a person. But he talked too much, filled our head with trash talk & made us feel like he was doing a big favor for us- that made us want to bend backward for him, to help in any way we could. My mom told us not to eat too much in case there wasnt enough for his kids! He affected our minds to that extent. In the end we gave him another $3000 to do his dishes, clean his house & not eat his food!

Whatever assistance he provided to us outside the house we could have taken care of ourselves had we known about the Rainbow Society or have information akin to the type available here, made available to us. We would have saved more time & done it more efficiently. The one invaluable thing that he did for us was co-sign our banking documents & car purchase. But Im not sure $4500 was an appropriate fee for that action.

A couple years down the line (we did not buy a house through his agency & forfeited the $750!) he needed some home repair work done on one of his rental properties in Toronto. My dad does home repairs & offered his services. He looked at the job & provided the gentleman with a quote to which he agreed. At the end of the job he stated that the money was too much. He offered my dad a check for one-third of that amount. My dad tossed the check & told him to either pay him the entire amount or live with his conscience for cheating an honest man out of his wages. To this day we have not heard from the man regarding that amount.

Ever since we have heard of alot of stories involving him & the way he has cheated other innocent people out of their money by preying on their vulnerability.

People here hate him to the extent that when he recently opened a restaurant here in Mississauga, on knowing that he owned it, no one went and that restaurant died a miserable death in months. But no one outside Canada knows his reputation! That's the problem.

My only motive in relieving this incident is to make you aware of such scams & to let you know that it is important to be on your guard at all times. There are people out there who will take advantage of you- its up to you to not get duped.

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*Don't expect me to be perfect all the time, but please recognize it when I am. -Ashley Brilliant (#4114, c1987)

Two golden phrases that hold for this experience:

If something it too good to believe then there is something wrong!!

Secondly, what goes around comes around...!!!

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What goes around comes around...
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A CANADIAN INDIAN

After reading the whole story, I am curious to know his name.
Can I?

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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)

Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto

Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

It might be unethical to post his name on a public forum? Im not sure?

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*Don't expect me to be perfect all the time, but please recognize it when I am. -Ashley Brilliant (#4114, c1987)

Why do you think it is unethical?? He was a service provider and he cheated. It's just like any other thing or service that you purchase after payment. If the dealer is found to be indulging in unethical practices, it is in fact a favour that you will be performing for the other people who might be potential victims just like you. Is it not your social obligation that you prevent others from being defrauded by this person?? Contrary to what you think, I think it will be a kind of social service that you would be doing by disclsing his identity. If I knew of someone who is a danger to society in ny way, it is my moral obligation to warn others to mitigate damage.

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wisernow

Wisernow, I agree that XYZ shouldn't hold back the person's name if someone asks for it. However, posting the name on an open forum may be considered libel and would make CD.com responsible and thus vulnerable to a defamation lawsuit. XYZ, I suggest that if anybody inquires about this person's name, You should send them a personal message. That will be the safest way to fulfill Your "obligation" to the society

Thx

DT

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Microsoft - Which end of the stick do you want today?

Ouch!

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i am back