Greg Martel in contempt of court, warrant issued for his apprehension

Victoria’s alleged financial fraudster, Greg Martel, was found in contempt of court on Monday after a BC Supreme Court judge in Vancouver ruled that he had not met his obligation to act in accordance with several legally binding court orders.

“It is unquestionably the case, based on the evidence…that he has failed to comply,” said Judge Shelley Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick ordered that a warrant be posted on a police database so that Martel can be apprehended if he shows up in Canada. He was last believed to be in Thailand.

The ruling comes after months of noncompliance between Martel and the court-appointed receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Specifically, PwC highlighted Martel’s failure to provide information regarding what they now believe to be almost $300 million in bridge loan investments; his failure to provide information about a DocuSign account, which he acknowledged contains information about the bridge loans; and his overall failure to “comply and cooperate” with the receiver, according to Judge Fitzpatrick.

“There are so many breaches,” Peter Rubin, counsel for PwC, said in Monday’s hearing.

Martel is a mortgage broker turned entrepreneur who created My Mortgage Auction Corp. around 2017. The company, which did business as Shop Your Own Mortgage (SYOM), advertised a simpler mortgage search with a smartphone app. In recent years, Martel appeared to become wildly successful, leading an extravagant lifestyle and buying multimillion-dollar homes in Canada and the United States.

On the side, he used investor money to fund short-term bridge loans. Investors were guaranteed above-average interest rates, and believed their money was being used to finance various commercial developments. But earlier this year, many stopped receiving payouts. Despite reassurances from Martel that everybody would be paid back, some investors began filing lawsuits.

In May, Martel told investors he was going to Thailand for a previously scheduled event. Amid accusations that he was running a Ponzi scheme—which Martel has previously denied—Martel was suspended from acting as a mortgage broker, and SYOM was placed into receivership. Both Martel and SYOM have since been ordered into bankruptcy.

In initial correspondence with PwC, Martel blamed the receiver for his lack of compliance with court orders. Martel also provided a list of people and entities he said had borrowed money from his investors. When PwC contacted some of those borrowers, they were told they had never done business with Martel.

In June, Martel’s counsel terminated his retainer citing “ethical reasons.” On Monday, Martel’s new counsel also resigned.

Judge Fitzpatrick said Martel had been advised of the contempt proceedings, and was aware of the five previously issued court orders that compelled him to cooperate. If apprehended, Martel will be brought before a Supreme Court judge, and could face jail time.

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