Alleged fraudster killed in his Toronto office leaves behind two dozen lawsuits

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Thursday, June 27, 2024 - By John Mazerolle

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

Alleged fraudster killed in his Toronto office leaves behind two dozen lawsuits

Arash Missaghi was shot and killed at his office in Toronto on June 17. (Randy Risling/Toronto Star/Getty Images)

A Toronto artist says he lost $2 million to an alleged fraudster who was killed last week.

Alijan Alijanpour, 68, alleges Arash Missaghi stole his life's work: 38 paintings, worth more than a million dollars combined, according to his lawsuit. He also says Missaghi left him drowning in debt from a $1.2-million mortgage that he alleges Missaghi orchestrated and had forged in his name. "I lost so much," Alijanpour told CBC Toronto through a translator. "I have never seen such a person like him in my life."

CBC Toronto reviewed hundreds of pages of court records and found two dozen lawsuits against Missaghi and others claiming more than $90 million over 20 years, as well as police reports, criminal fraud charges and that two of Missaghi's lawyers had lost their licences. Missaghi was never convicted, sanctioned or found liable of any of his alleged serial frauds before his death.

Missaghi and another person were shot and killed at Missaghi's Toronto office last week by a man named Alan Kats, who then killed himself. Kats's widow, Alisa Pogorelovsky, said her husband "could not handle losing our life savings, and that is what led to this tragic event."

Peter Smiley, a Toronto civil lawyer who started working on cases against Missaghi in 2018, said last week's tragedy "was the almost-inevitable result of decades of institutional inaction."

Missaghi has remained an undischarged bankrupt since declaring bankruptcy in 2000. On paper, Smiley said, this means he has no assets in his name against which to enforce a civil judgment. But in reality, the lawyer alleges, Missaghi just concealed his "considerable assets" obtained from fraud using shell companies and straw purchases.

In a recent order issued in Pogorelovsky's civil case, Ontario Superior Court Justice Lee Akazaki wrote that Missaghi and his wife "control or have controlled upwards of $50 million in North American assets."

"If you were a victim of a Missaghi fraud, you were put in the unenviable position of [pursuing] this multi-millionaire, undischarged-bankrupt fraudster through the court system who was defending himself with the best lawyers in Toronto," said Smiley. "Which he is paying for with the money that he stole from you."

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(Juan Karita/The Associated Press)

Military members stand guard with an armored truck outside the government palace at Plaza Murillo yesterday in La Paz, Bolivia. Armoured vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace in an apparent coup attempt, but Bolivian President Luis Arce vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander, who ordered troops to stand down. Read more about Bolivia here.

In brief

Some Liberal MPs feel a growing sense of urgency after their stunning byelection loss to the Conservatives in what was thought of as a safe seat. They say the national caucus needs to meet ASAP and not wait until its next retreat, scheduled for the end of the summer. One Liberal MP told CBC News that if the caucus waits until that early September meeting to regroup and reset, "we will be writing our obituary." The loss has fuelled conversations inside the Liberal caucus about the future prospects of the party, the tenability of Justin Trudeau's leadership and the effectiveness of the political team that surrounds the prime minister. "We put everything we had into it and still lost," a second Liberal MP told CBC News. "This is an unmitigated disaster." The MPs spoke to CBC News on the condition that they not be named. Read more about the growing Liberal concern here.

The country's outgoing military commander says contingency plans have been drawn up to extract roughly 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon should full-scale fighting erupt between Israel and Hezbollah. Gen. Wayne Eyre, the chief of the defence staff, made the remarks in a wide-ranging exit interview with CBC News yesterday ahead of his retirement next month. Eyre said those plans are heavily dependent on allied support. "We can't do it alone," he said. "It will very much be a coalition effort, and we are tightly tied in — very tight — with our allies." He noted that in terms of the Canadian government response, Global Affairs Canada is in charge, but allied military leaders who will have to carry out the evacuation met Tuesday to discuss what's available and how it can be done safely. On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly warned Canadians to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible. Read more about the potential evacuation here.

Experts are peering into the genes of COVID "super-dodgers." Last week, scientists writing in the journal Nature described high activity of a specific gene in people who have yet to be infected by the coronavirus, which still kills about 20 people a week in Canada. Christopher Chiu, a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said they think the gene (HLA-DQA2) helps flag invaders to the immune system so it can quickly destroy the virus. Researchers hope by better understanding early immune responses of super-dodgers, it could help with developing nasal spray forms of vaccines for the coronavirus, similar to the existing FluMist to prevent influenza. Read more about COVID super-dodgers here.

Former Maple Leafs forward Sergei Berezin has died at 52. The NHL Alumni Association made the announcement yesterday without providing a cause of death. Berezin, from Voskresensk, Russia, was selected by the Maple Leafs in the 10th round, 256th overall, at the 1994 NHL draft. He played five seasons with the Maple Leafs, passing the 20-goal mark in four of them. "We are incredibly saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Sergei Berezin," the Leafs said in a statement on X. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time." Berezin had 286 points over 502 career NHL games with Toronto, Phoenix, Montreal, Chicago and Washington and added 30 points over 52 playoff games. Read more about Berezin here.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have cancelled upcoming shows of their Love Earth Tour due to an unspecified illness. The Canadian rock legend and his longtime backing band announced yesterday the U.S.-Canada tour will go on a "big unplanned break." "When a couple of us got sick after Detroit's Pine Knob, we had to stop," a message posted on Young's website said. Young and Crazy Horse had been slated to play in Ottawa, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Burnaby this July. Read more about the Neil Young concert cancellation here.

Now here's some record-breaking news to start your Thursday: Most toilet paper rolls balanced on the head. Most marshmallows caught in the mouth. Most kiwi fruits sliced in the air with a sword in one minute while standing on a Swiss ball. Those aren't just aspirations — they're Guinness World Records, and only some of David Rush's record claims. The Boise, Idaho, native says being goal-oriented and pursuing those goals "with a passion" has helped him achieve his world record titles. Now, Rush is trying to bring home the ultimate title: the Guinness World Record for the most concurrently held Guinness World Records — a title currently held by Ashrita Furman, who holds more than 200 records. "The harder ones are the ones I'm the most proud of," Rush told As It Happens. "And then I'm always working on the easier ones that take maybe just a few weeks of practice to knock out to increase that number." Read about more of the records Rush is trying to break here.

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Today in history: June 27

1896: Canada's first public film screening takes place at the Paris Theatre in Montreal.

1967: The first ATM — automatic teller machine — is installed at a branch of Barclays PLC in a north London suburb.

1972: One of the most sensational player signings in hockey history takes place when superstar left winger Bobby Hull leaves the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks to join the Winnipeg Jets of the fledgling World Hockey Association.

1995: The RCMP grants the Walt Disney Company an exclusive licence to market the Mounties' likeness and image in return for royalties.

(With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters)