To reel them in, Simpson enthusiastically laid out how her model worked. Through her, investors would provide interim funds, at a high interest rate, to people who had bought pre-construction condos. Buyers of pre-development condo units can begin paying their mortgages only once the entire building is finished, but they can live in their units if they pay occupancy fees—fees that Simpson told her investors their money could cover in the form of a loan.
Emily was reluctant to tie up a big chunk of her savings, but Simpson promised that she could get the principal back anytime. So, despite her initial reservations, Emily invested $100,000. Simpson seemed put together, and she was evidently very good at what she did, telling Emily that she had a buzzing office full of high-performing agents. In addition to being a convincing salesperson, Simpson had a girl-next-door quality that made her appear trustworthy.
The judge described her casualties: people who could no longer retire, no longer send their kids to university, no longer buy a home.Another investor, also an acquaintance of Simpson’s, handed over $100,000 in late 2002, after she told him that she wanted her friends to share in the wealth that she and Wayne were enjoying. At first, as with Emily, things went smoothly. But, within a year, Simpson’s payments had slowed down, and she stopped returning his calls.
She was released from custody in December on a $400,000 surety but faced an array of conditions: she would have to remain in Ontario and report to police every two weeks, and she was prohibited from soliciting money for future investments. Though her plans for a real estate empire were crumbling, she wasn’t about to give up. When interviewed by the local paper, Simpson was unrepentant. The fraud, she said, was overblown, and she was eager to make her investors whole.
Simpson served her time at a federal institution in Kitchener that she describes as “summer camp,” with McDonald’s and Caribbean food nights, and where she worked as a cook. In November of 2008, after serving a reduced sentence typical of a first-time, non-violent offender, Simpson was released on parole to a halfway house in Barrie—but she didn’t stay out of trouble for long. On April 14, 2010, Simpson entered her family’s home, which she was prohibited from visiting.
When the reckoning finally came for Simpson, it started with her husband. On June 25, 2021, RECO put out a public advisory regarding Wayne and Wynn Realty Corporation, whose licences were immediately suspended for failure to refund consumer deposits upon request, as required by the Real Estate Business Brokers Act. The police investigation kicked off more than eight months later, in March of 2022.
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Source: OttawaCitizen - 🏆 21. / 68 Read more »