A man who lost more than $200,000 in an abortive property deal says he invested his money because he believed wrestling great “Tiger Jeet Singh” was heavily involved in the project. “I would not have invested one dollar if I had known Tiger wasn’t involved,” Harold Wide man told Justice Chris Speyer in Ontario Court (general division) yesterday. “I was always completely confident Tiger had a good 50 percent ownership in the project right from the start.” A resident of Wallenstein, Mr. Wide man, 60, Said he met Tiger Jeet Singh (whose real name is Jagjit Singh Hans) in the early 1980s and came to trust him as astute businessman and investor. He said Mr. Hans convinced him in the summer of 1989 to invest more than $200,000 to buy 20 shares in a condominium complex in Edmonton, known as Rundle Park Village. “I took his word this was a good opportunity to make an investment. He was going to take a large percentage of the project himself and allow other investors to come in with him, “he testified.
To raise the money for what he thought would be a short term investment, he testified, he had to hit up friends and relatives, as well as dipping in to his own pocket. While arranging his investment Mr. Wide man said he met Bahadur Singh, 46, and Narinder Dev Sood, 57, two Brampton Realtors involved in the Edmonton project. He said Mr. Hans had led him to believe that they were also financially involved in Rundle Park Village and that Mr. Toor was the project manager who would keep him apprised of any developments in the deal. Forth next year or so, he added, Mr. Toor kept assuring him that everything was going well and that the property was would be sold for a substantial profit. Mr. Toor and Mr. Sood — who is also known as Herbie Parmar have both pleaded not guilty to fraud related charges over the deal. Mr. Wide man testified he was shocked to discover during a fact-finding mission to Edmonton in the summer of 1991 that the complex had fallen into disrepair and was in serious financial trouble. He also learned that the purchase price had been about $7,170,000 and not $8 million, as investors had been told. After returning to Ontario, he said, the other investors appointed him to find out whether Mr. Hans had invested $480,000, as shareholders had been led to believe. “He assured me he had put the mony in. He reached down into a drawer and pulled out a canceled check “He testified. Testifying for the Crown last week, Mr. Hans said he lost money too after pumping about $155,000 in the project. He denied being a director or officer of the company that engineered the deal and suggested that somebody forged his name on corporate documents.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1996
