Two Edmonton developers are facing criminal charges after allegedly raising $6.8 million from investors under false pretenses, forging mortgage documents, misrepresenting where funds would go, and failing to honour promised returns.
Yuvraj Verma (42) and Rohit Sethi (50), both from Edmonton, have been charged with multiple offences following a joint investigation by the Alberta Securities Commission and the RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team.
Between 2018 and 2020, the two, through companies including Cancom Development Ltd. and Roxdale Gardens Ltd., secured about $6.8 million from investors for a real-estate project. They allegedly told investors that 45 percent of the funds were reserved for future dividends, with the rest allocated to the project. In fact, no money was set aside for dividends, and investor funds were allegedly diverted into other businesses controlled by Verma and Sethi.
Also involved in the scheme was a lottery: investors were given tickets for a chance to win a residential lot in Leduc County, Alberta. A winner was selected, but the lot was never provided.
It is further alleged that mortgage documents were forged or altered in ways that benefitted the accused. The charges include fraud over $5,000, making and circulating false prospectuses, operating a ticket scheme, uttering forged documents, and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Verma and Sethi have been released under court conditions that include restrictions on trading securities for others and contacting certain investors. Their first court appearance is scheduled for October 1, 2025, in Edmonton Court of Justice.
