Former Hamilton mortgage broker’s lawsuit backfires to tune of $46,494

A former Hamilton mortgage broker who has in the past been found guilty of fraud as well as sexual assault has been ordered by a judge to pay $46,494 to clients he had filed a lawsuit against.

The clients successfully countersued Dinesh (Dennis) Khanna, who had claimed they defaulted on their mortgage back when he was running a company called Metro Financial Planning Ltd. on King Street West.

In his ruling, Superior Court Justice James Ramsay wrote that he was declaring $41,494 of that amount to be the result of fraud" by Khanna and his company.

The court hearing was a long time coming: in 2012, a claim was initially filed in the name of a family member of Khanna's, three years before Khanna was told his mortgage broker licence was suspended.

Khanna claimed the clients owed $300,000 on an initial mortgage of about $98,750.

The counterclaim hearing took place over five days in November 2022.

Khanna's brokering and administration of the mortgages was essentially corrupt," Ramsay wrote in his decision that awarded damages to the clients.

(Khanna) lent money knowing that the (clients) would not be able to pay it back," Ramsay continued. He charged exorbitant broker and lender fees that significantly increased the interest rate, without their agreement. He misled them as to the cost of borrowing. The foreclosure proceedings were inevitable, as he must have known and probably planned."

The judge added that the former clients - their family name is listed as Comparone in court documents - can submit further claims for Khanna to pay their legal costs.

Michael Lesage, a lawyer for the Comparones, told The Hamilton Spectator it's nice to see justice is done," even though the matter took 10 years to get itself to trial."

Khanna's lawyer did not respond to a Spectator request for comment on the court ruling, but Khanna sent an email in which he said he is appealing the case and would launch a lawsuit against the newspaper if it published a story about it.

In 2017, Khanna's business dealings were excoriated in a decision by Ontario's Financial Services Tribunal that revoked and then refused to renew his mortgage broker licence.

The tribunal ruled that Khanna had forged and falsified documents and registered fraudulent mortgages on title ... (and) shown a flagrant predisposition for deceit and dishonesty in every aspect of his business ... He has preyed upon vulnerable borrowers in financial and personal distress to his own advantage."

In May 2020, Khanna applied for a new mortgage broker licence, according to an agreed statement of facts (ASF) in a tribunal ruling March 28, 2022. The ASF noted that in his application, Khanna answered no" to a question asking if he had ever pleaded guilty or been found guilty of a criminal offence.

Khanna had been found guilty on three counts of sexual assault in 2019 (he was found not guilty on three other such charges), and in 2018, he pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000.

The tribunal added that he also answered no" to the question of whether he had ever had a complaint filed against him based upon fraud or similar conduct."

Khanna subsequently withdrew that licence application, but once more filed for a licence in March 2021, according to the ASF. The tribunal noted that on his application he entered the first name Dinish" on an e-signature, instead of spelling it Dinesh," and that as a result his name did not generate any criminal record hits.

Khanna received his licence, and then successfully renewed it, the tribunal ruling said.

In the March 28 ruling, the tribunal said Khanna provided false information on his applications, and ordered his licence be revoked: The Applicant's prior criminal behaviour and regulatory misconduct, continues to demonstrate an ongoing predisposition for deceit and dishonesty as a mortgage agent and afford reasonable ground for belief that he will not deal or trade in mortgages in accordance with the law and with integrity and honesty."

The tribunal added that in Khanna's application he said sexual assault charges against him had been minor in nature," which the tribunal said trivialized" the charge.

Khanna received a suspended sentence on the sexual assault charges and his name was placed on the National Sex Offender Registry.

Jon Wells is a feature writer at The Spectator. jwells@thespec.com