Stay informed
Ex-Liberal MP allegedly promised to pay back millions only if lenders didn't complain to Law Society of Ontario
Former Liberal MP and lawyer Raj Grewal allegedly told lenders he’d only pay back money he owed them if they avoided complaining to Ontario’s legal regulator or the police about his allegedly fraudulent actions, according to the Law Society of Ontario.
The accusation is contained in written legal arguments the Law Society recently filed in a bid to have Grewal’s licence suspended and to prevent “a significant risk of harm to the public.”
The lawyer also tried to persuade a client to take part in a “convoluted false narrative” to dodge a Law Society complaint after he placed a $15-million mortgage on the person’s property without his knowledge, the Society’s “factum” claims.
The separate Law Society Tribunal will consider the suspension request at a hearing on Aug. 14.
If the allegations are true, it suggests the former member of Parliament for Brampton East knew there might well be questions about the legality of his behaviour as he navigated a series of complex real-estate and trust-fund transactions.
In fact, both the Law Society and Peel Regional Police are now investigating Grewal and his colleague Davinder Khattra, whose licence to practice law was suspended by the society earlier this month. Grewal sold the RSG Law firm he founded to Khattra in 2024.
The factum alleges that Grewal “has participated in, facilitated or failed to prevent mortgage fraud,” misled clients, lenders and other lawyers about money he held in trust, misappropriated client funds and provided fake title insurance to lenders.
Amanda Ross, the lawyer representing him before the Law Society, said she could not comment while the case is ongoing.
The Law Society’s actions come as Grewal, Khattra, RSG Law, colleagues and family have faced a flood of lawsuits in recent months from lenders, clients and others alleging similar misconduct.
None of the charges have been proven in court. Grewal’s lawyers in the civil cases have said he denies all wrongdoing and that the legal action is a result of the type of “falling out” they say is common in commercial transactions. They also have said the 40-year-old has had “very limited” involvement in RSG Law’s day-to-day operations since he sold the firm to Khattra, 29, a lawyer only since 2021. Grewal is trying to resolve the litigation in a way that is fair to all, his lawyers said.
Regardless of who, if anyone, is at fault, the scope of the alleged real estate fraud and misappropriation is unprecedented in recent memory, says a private investigator looking into many of the cases.
Brian King, head of King International Advisory Group, has been working for clients who provide title insurance, which covers losses suffered by lenders and property owners from mortgage fraud, identity theft and the like. He said his clients are on the hook for millions of dollars in payouts related to the cases, while in total about $100 million is in dispute.
“I’ve been in this business for a long time … and we’ve never seen anything like it,” King said Wednesday. “It’s the most horrible thing…. I’m just shaking my head.”
The affair has even had a major impact at the province’s land titles office, responsible for keeping track of property ownership and mortgages and protecting property rights.
The Law Society factum says an official of the office told the regulator earlier this month the agency had frozen over 100 properties in connection with allegations that Khattra had registered fraudulent discharges of mortgages, as well as related court orders against Khattra, Grewal and others.
Lenders in those cases “reported that they were given false assurances of repayment and they were threatened that if they reported the matter to police or cooperated with the Law Society, they would not receive funds,” the factum alleges.
But it’s not the first time Grewal has been dogged by financial controversy. He resigned as an MP in 2018 after admitting to losing millions of dollars while gambling at a casino in Quebec. He was charged by RCMP – and cautioned by the Law Society – over loans he obtained to cover those debts, but a judge acquitted him in 2023, saying the Crown had failed to prove he’d used his influence with the Liberal government to obtain loans. Grewal says friends and family helped cover his losses.
He went on to build a private legal practice and appears to have remained immersed in Liberal Party politics.
In February 2025, individuals named Raj Grewal and Davinder Khattra both attended a small, $1,750-dollar-a-plate fundraising dinner in Mississauga for Mark Carney as the future prime minister ran for the Liberal leadership, according to Elections Canada documents. The agency lists a Rajvinder Grewal at the same postal code as having donated $3,446 to the party in 2025 and $1,572 in 2024.
And later in 2025, Liberal MP Iqwinder Gaheer of the Mississauga-Malton riding nominated Grewal’s wife, lawyer Shikha Kasal, for a King Charles III Coronation medal, among 30,000 Canadians who received the honour.
The many lawsuits filed in recent months allege that Khattra, Grewal and RSG Law misappropriated millions in trust funds, took out mortgages on clients’ properties without their authorization and deleted mortgages from title records without paying them off.
Judges have frozen the RSG Law trust fund and ordered assets belonging to Grewal and others seized as the cases proceed.
The Law Society factum says Grewal himself is the target of six complaints to the regulator.
In one case, RSG Law allegedly took out a $15-million mortgage on a client’s property without his permission, knowledge or real signature. Though the transaction was handled by Khattra, the firm obtained the loan with the help of ID cards and a passport that Grewal had obtained from owner Navdeep Singh in another case, the factum charges.
The society says it has a recording of a conversation in which Grewal claims to Singh the unauthorized mortgage was to “speed up” an eviction at the property.
Grewal “asked Mr. Singh to help him avoid a Law Society complaint by engaging in a convoluted false narrative,” the factum alleges. “Mr. Singh refused to participate in the Lawyer’s scheme.”
The lawyer eventually paid back the $9.2 million of the mortgage the lender had already advanced.
In another case, Grewal was supposed to use $1.9 million he held in trust to pay off lenders. He still has not and Billa Matharu, the lender who complained to the Law Society, discovered that the mortgage had never been secured as promised against six properties — one of them apparently owned by Grewal and one by Khattra. The lender also found that the title insurance Grewal provided was fraudulent, the factum alleges.
The lender “told the Law Society’s investigator that (Grewal) had promised to repay the funds in weekly installments if Mr. Matharu agreed not to cooperate with or respond to the Law Society.”
The Law Society investigation is ongoing and the factum provides no details about three of the complaints, saying only that they “concern allegations (Grewal) has defrauded clients of approximately $17.3 million.”
Meanwhile, Grewal has applied to the Tribunal to force the Law Society to disclose some of the evidence against him that it has yet to hand over.
His factum backing up that motion provides a hint of his defence against the regulator.
A central issue at the upcoming suspension hearing will be the strength of the evidence “purporting” that Grewal knew about and was involved along with others in the alleged fraud, says the written argument filed by Ross, his lawyer.
There are “meaningful distinctions” between actively taking part in fraud and merely being “made a dupe or failing to report the conduct of another lawyer,” says the document.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Unpublished Newswire
Comments
Be the first to comment