Constantin Niphakis appeared in a Montreal court today, where he was found guilty of eight counts of fraud related to real estate transactions that took place between 2016 and 2018. “Finally, justice,” said one of his victims, Eugene Saint-Germain. “It took a long time. Ten years is a long time.” Saint-Germain said when he inherited a house from his sister, he was looking for help to get it to market. “I didn’t have time to renovate a house that needed a lot of repairs, so that’s why I went to him. I heard a message on the radio ‘j’achete des maisons CA$H.’” In the agreement Saint-Germain was given a percentage of the sale up front and told the rest of the sale price would be paid after the house was renovated and resold. “We had a year before the second payment. And then he never answered our calls and we didn’t see any renovations being made to the house.“ It was a similar story for fellow victim Carol Ringrose who says she was fleeing an abusive relationship in 2016 and needed to quickly sell her home. What she didn’t know is that Niphakis took out a mortgage with a private lender, with rates as high as 18 per cent and never made a payment. “I lost my home. I lost everything. I ended up living with friends on couches and everything until I could get settled. and I’m renting a room,” she said. According to the judgement, Niphakis did not make mortgage payments, nor did he pay municipal taxes or insurance costs on the properties. In total, the victims lost more than $1.1 million. “The evidence has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Niphakis made false representations because he never intended to pay back the victims what was due to them,” said prosecutor Rami El-Maoula. Saint-Germain said he doubts he will ever see a cent. “I just want him to get the best sentence he can get,” he said. “It’s cost my dignity and my trustworthiness in people,” said Ringrose. “It cost me to realize that don’t do something until you have done the research.” Neither Niphakis nor his lawyer commented on the verdict. Sentencing proceedings will begin in December.
