The Alberta Securities Commission has found that a developer and his companies perpetrated a fraud against investors through an Edmonton strip mall development project.

The ASC announced Friday that a review panel determined Ali Ghani and Summerside Development Trust, Summerside Commercial Trust, Prism Summerside Limited Partnership, Prism Summerside Development Corp. and Prism Real Estate Investment Corporation misappropriated $3.4 million from the development and sale of the property in Edmonton’s Summerside neighbourhood.

“The panel found that proceeds from the December 2017 sale of the strip mall were used for the benefit of other Ghani-controlled businesses and entities without authorization or disclosure to the investors, resulting in a total loss of their investments,” said the ASC.

The ASC’s proceeding will now move into a second phase to determine whether any orders for sanction or cost-recovery should be made against Ghani and the other respondents.

Photo: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com