Real estate agent jailed, fined $1M for grow-op scheme
by John Goddard
NEWMARKET–A Markham real estate agent who turned 54 rented homes into Canada's largest-known illegal marijuana grow-op was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and fined more than $1 million.
Phu Nhi (John) Trac, 46, said only, "No, Your Honour, thank you," when asked before sentencing if he had anything to say.
Charges were dropped against his wife, Yvonne Le, and brother, Phu Nhut (Mike) Trac, who sat impassively with him on a bench behind the lawyers.
If John Trac fails to pay the fines within two years, he must serve another five years, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Brown ruled.
"This was an organized, sophisticated criminal enterprise," the judge said. Trac's "degree of responsibility and involvement was substantial and essential to the operation."
John Trac's lead accomplice, Sutton Group real estate agent Sau San (Jennifer) Wu, fled the city and remains wanted by police, a pre-sentence hearing was told in May.
Brown sentenced Trac to prison terms totalling 14 years with some to be served concurrently, making the actual jail time five years, on convictions for drug trafficking, money laundering, income tax evasion and electricity theft. He recently had assets worth $2.5 million returned to him by the court, said Crown attorney Lisa Mathews and continued to practise real estate until his licence was revoked recently.
He appears to have the means to pay the fines and avoid the extra jail term, she said.
At the same time, his debts with Revenue Canada for unpaid taxes exceed $1 million and interest penalties against him continue to mount, court was told.
The fines are linked to tax evasion, withholding GST payments on real estate commissions and crime profit.
Trac came to Canada at 16 in 1979 as one of the "boat people" refugees who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and ended up in a camp in Malaysia.
He worked his way through high school and university, earning a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and becoming a top performing agent at Living Realty.
Between 2001 and 2002, he also masterminded a pot-farming operation, renting homes from unsuspecting small landlords in affluent neighbourhoods across the GTA.
The police task force that busted him recovered more than 27,550 plants worth more than $30 million, the biggest case of its type in the country at the time.
Last December, Trac pleaded guilty to producing and possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, money laundering, plus income tax and GST evasion.
He later tried to take back his guilty plea, but Justice Michael Brown rejected his motion.
The Crown was also asking that Trac be forced to pay restitution of $257,627.26 to 11 homeowner victims, but the judge declined, saying "contentious" legal issues remain in linking Trac directly with the losses of the homeowners.
"We're pretty upset about that," said homeowner Luciano De Luca of Oakville.
The judge said other avenues remain open to the homeowners to seek compensation.
"He was a micromanager of his criminal organization," York Region Det. David said at the first day of Trac's sentencing hearing earlier this year in Ontario Superior Court in Newmarket.
The rental agreements gave the first clues to the scheme. Similar tenant names, business references and previous addresses would appear, some real, others bogus, most linked to Trac or his associates.
But it was the wiretaps that showed Trac involved in every aspect of the massive scheme, Noseworthy said.
He gave his underlings advice on how to avoid detection. He took an interest in how the plants were progressing and in the price of marijuana.
"He sought customers for his product," Noseworthy said. "He sought franchisees for his operations."
Trac generally targeted large homes with unfinished basements, where the pot plants would grow to full size, Noseworthy testified.
The marijuana growers would drill into the foundations, bypassing the hydro meter to steal electricity.
Police found little furniture in the houses, which were uninhabited save for a mattress on the floor, presumably used by the lone "farmer."
The majority of victims were hard-working, middle-class homeowners.
"A lot of them felt very betrayed," Noseworthy said.
Hydro companies would estimate the value of the electricity stolen and insist that homeowners pay before hooking them up again.
with files from Peter Small
- Link to Original Article: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/741908--real-estate-agent-jailed-fined-1m-for-grow-op-scheme
by John Goddard
NEWMARKET–A Markham real estate agent who turned 54 rented homes into Canada's largest-known illegal marijuana grow-op was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and fined more than $1 million.
Phu Nhi (John) Trac, 46, said only, "No, Your Honour, thank you," when asked before sentencing if he had anything to say.
Charges were dropped against his wife, Yvonne Le, and brother, Phu Nhut (Mike) Trac, who sat impassively with him on a bench behind the lawyers.
If John Trac fails to pay the fines within two years, he must serve another five years, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Brown ruled.
"This was an organized, sophisticated criminal enterprise," the judge said. Trac's "degree of responsibility and involvement was substantial and essential to the operation."
John Trac's lead accomplice, Sutton Group real estate agent Sau San (Jennifer) Wu, fled the city and remains wanted by police, a pre-sentence hearing was told in May.
Brown sentenced Trac to prison terms totalling 14 years with some to be served concurrently, making the actual jail time five years, on convictions for drug trafficking, money laundering, income tax evasion and electricity theft. He recently had assets worth $2.5 million returned to him by the court, said Crown attorney Lisa Mathews and continued to practise real estate until his licence was revoked recently.
He appears to have the means to pay the fines and avoid the extra jail term, she said.
At the same time, his debts with Revenue Canada for unpaid taxes exceed $1 million and interest penalties against him continue to mount, court was told.
The fines are linked to tax evasion, withholding GST payments on real estate commissions and crime profit.
Trac came to Canada at 16 in 1979 as one of the "boat people" refugees who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and ended up in a camp in Malaysia.
He worked his way through high school and university, earning a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and becoming a top performing agent at Living Realty.
Between 2001 and 2002, he also masterminded a pot-farming operation, renting homes from unsuspecting small landlords in affluent neighbourhoods across the GTA.
The police task force that busted him recovered more than 27,550 plants worth more than $30 million, the biggest case of its type in the country at the time.
Last December, Trac pleaded guilty to producing and possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, money laundering, plus income tax and GST evasion.
He later tried to take back his guilty plea, but Justice Michael Brown rejected his motion.
The Crown was also asking that Trac be forced to pay restitution of $257,627.26 to 11 homeowner victims, but the judge declined, saying "contentious" legal issues remain in linking Trac directly with the losses of the homeowners.
"We're pretty upset about that," said homeowner Luciano De Luca of Oakville.
The judge said other avenues remain open to the homeowners to seek compensation.
"He was a micromanager of his criminal organization," York Region Det. David said at the first day of Trac's sentencing hearing earlier this year in Ontario Superior Court in Newmarket.
The rental agreements gave the first clues to the scheme. Similar tenant names, business references and previous addresses would appear, some real, others bogus, most linked to Trac or his associates.
But it was the wiretaps that showed Trac involved in every aspect of the massive scheme, Noseworthy said.
He gave his underlings advice on how to avoid detection. He took an interest in how the plants were progressing and in the price of marijuana.
"He sought customers for his product," Noseworthy said. "He sought franchisees for his operations."
Trac generally targeted large homes with unfinished basements, where the pot plants would grow to full size, Noseworthy testified.
The marijuana growers would drill into the foundations, bypassing the hydro meter to steal electricity.
Police found little furniture in the houses, which were uninhabited save for a mattress on the floor, presumably used by the lone "farmer."
The majority of victims were hard-working, middle-class homeowners.
"A lot of them felt very betrayed," Noseworthy said.
Hydro companies would estimate the value of the electricity stolen and insist that homeowners pay before hooking them up again.
with files from Peter Small
- Link to Original Article: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/741908--real-estate-agent-jailed-fined-1m-for-grow-op-scheme
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