Yellowknife theatre closes as RCMP make arrest in business-loan fraud investigation
CBC
A Yellowknife movie theatre and virtual reality gaming business has closed, while RCMP have arrested one person in connection with a fraud investigation involving the company.
Last week, Northern Sky Films Inc. made a post on Facebook saying it was shutting its doors after a "bad guy" used the company to take out a large bank loan and enriched himself with that money.
Then on Tuesday, the RCMP announced that a person who was involved with Northern Sky had allegedly misappropriated money from loans from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
Police allege that $250,000 in loans were taken out to support Northern Sky, but that the money was "funnelled into a personal account before being further dispersed."
That money never went to developing Northern Sky, say RCMP, and responsibility for repaying the loans was put onto another business partner.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Matt Halstead said police aren't naming the suspect as the charges of fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime have yet to be laid.
The arrest comes a few months after Northern Sky claimed in court documents that the company, its sole director Shengtang Wang (also known as Tony) and the BDC are all the victims of fraud perpetrated by Northern Sky's former director, Liang Chen, and Chen's business, C.L. Pacific Immigration Consulting Ltd.
The allegations haven't been proven in court.
Wang said the BDC is suing his company, and he's on the hook to pay back a loan that he didn't even know about.
"After BDC told me [Northern Sky] owes BDC a lot of money, I cannot see any hope in the future [of the company]," he said.
Last November, the BDC filed a statement of claim in the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. Northern Sky, along with Chen and Pacific Consulting, are named as defendants.
The BDC claims that in 2018, the bank agreed to give Northern Sky a $250,000 loan, and to secure the loan against Northern Sky's property.
The bank says Northern Sky defaulted under the terms of the loan, and that the company, Pacific Consulting and Chen now owe the BDC more than $269,000.
Northern Sky denies the BDC's allegations, and wants to be excluded from the bank's lawsuit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a farewell message to Canadians Thursday as he marks his last full day in office.
The Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs says about 80 per cent of volunteer firefighters in the territory are wearing expired protective equipment, putting them in danger and in violation of occupational health and safety regulations when they respond to emergencies.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be given a new portfolio in Mark Carney's cabinet, a source with knowledge of the decision told Radio-Canada.
The Alberta government has suspended a loan program at Picture Butte Feeder Cooperative, the province's largest cattle financing cooperative, after an inspection alleged a number of financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.
If you look up at the sky late, late Thursday in the Toronto area, there's a chance you'll be able to see a total lunar eclipse and what's called a blood moon.
When wintertime calls, go where it's warm.
Colby Leamon had lost a close family member, and was looking for a dog to provide emotional support.
The cost of a 24-pack of beer could increase $3 to $5 because of 25 per cent tariffs on aluminum exported to the United States, according to a craft brewery in northern Ontario.
Fire tore through a seafood processing plant in Cape John, N.S., on Wednesday night.
Another of New Brunswick's new municipal councils has become embroiled in drama and bitter conflict.
Tardiness is nothing new at Via Rail, but late arrivals are reaching historic levels in a key corridor since passenger trains have been forced to slow down at hundreds of rail crossings operated by CN Rail.
Walmart Canada will stop selling machetes — a type of weapon frequently used in violent crimes — in stores across the country, after Manitoba's government pressured the retailer to restrict online sales.
The parents of two 15-year-old girls at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon say they went to police and the school multiple times between June and August 2024 with concerns about escalating online threats from the student now accused of setting one of the girls on fire in a school hallway.