Canucks prospect Prab Rai in 2010. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO/Vancouver Sun

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A BC judge has frozen the assets of a former Vancouver Canucks draft pick who has been sued over allegations he defrauded a broker out of more than $2.8 million.

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Harpreet Singh Khela, the broker, claims that Prab Rai, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 NHL draft, has shown himself to be a successful and wealthy businessman, claiming to have significant connections with prominent local and international businessmen and retired hockey players. Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Vancouver Sun, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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Canucks prospect Prab Rai at training camp in 2009. Photo by Jason Payne /PROVINCE He says Rai provided him with false emails, financial statements, agreements and documents from these prominent businessmen and retired professional hockey players to fraudulently induce him to transfer more than $2.8 million for real estate development and other investments. The alleged plans included a development property in San Diego, a Tim Hortons franchise and the purchase of the Sutton Hotel in Vancouver.

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Khela claims that Rai convinced him to put up $2.4 million as a down payment to buy the hotel for $200 million. Another alleged scheme involved Rye telling Kela that a prominent former Canuck player was interested in purchasing commercial real estate located in Alberta in which Kela owned shares. Khela alleges that beginning in 2017 and continuing through approximately October 2020, Rai told him that they had made substantial profits from their alleged businesses and then covered up the fraud by telling him a false story that the profits had been frozen by the US government and were not available. He claimed that in October 2020, Khela was informed that Rai had been kidnapped on his way to the airport, beaten and had his hard drive stolen, which contained all his bank account details, and that all his money had go.

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After the “fantastical” kidnapping story, Khela says he began investigating his business dealings with Rai and discovered the alleged fraud. “Prab Rai’s stories to Khela about the profits they made from their business activities were lies. There are no earnings and there were no IRS investigations or frozen accounts,” the lawsuit states. “Prab Rai told these false stories with the intention of preventing Khela from initiating legal proceedings to trace and recover the funds he advanced to Prab Rai.” Rye, a young hockey star from Surrey, signed a contract with the Canucks in 2010, but his hockey career was sidelined due to injuries sustained in a car accident, according to media reports. In his response filed in court, Rai said that over several years, Kela actively sought to appease Rai and involve or be associated with Rai’s legitimate business pursuits.

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“Plaintiff’s efforts were motivated by plaintiff’s significant financial ambitions, lack of independent financial resources and debts to third parties,” the response states. “When Mr. Rai attempted to limit his involvement with the plaintiff, the plaintiff, in an attempt to fend off his own creditors, began to make a series of sweeping, unsubstantiated allegations against Mr. Rai and, even more so, the members of Mr. Rai’s family. .” Attorneys representing Rai later withdrew from the case. Rai, who told the judge in the property case that he owed his lawyers $80,000, could not be reached for comment. Prab Rai makes a big hit on Calgary Flames’ Lance Bouma during pre-season action at Rogers Arena in 2010. Photo by Steve Bosch /PNG After the suit was filed, Khela went to court and sought an order to freeze Rai’s assets. In her ruling on the case, BC Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick noted that Rai’s only substantial assets are two Lamborghini luxury vehicles worth a total of about $1.2 million.

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He concluded that the legal review had been done to order the freezing of the assets and found that there was a real risk of these assets being dispersed. The judge ordered Rai to provide a list of his assets and not to dispose of them. Several of Rai’s family members, including his brother, who is a former RCMP officer, are also named as defendants and have filed documents denying involvement in any fraudulent activity. An amended complaint was filed in September 2021. The judge’s decision was given orally in October 2021, with a written copy of that decision attached to the court file. A 15-day trial is scheduled to begin in January 2024. [email protected] twitter.com/keithrfraser

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