In a striking pattern of legal troubles, prominent West Vancouver developer Mark John Chandler has been ordered to pay more than $1 million in damages for civil fraud – marking his third such judgment in recent years. The British Columbia Supreme Court ruling highlights a troubling series of real estate transactions that have left investors counting significant losses.
Justice Lindsay Lyster’s recent judgment found Chandler guilty of fraudulently inducing two investors to provide funds for a Langley development project that never materialized as promised. According to court documents, Chandler collected $800,000 from these investors in 2016, offering them what appeared to be lucrative ownership opportunities in the proposed development.
“The evidence clearly establishes that Mr. Chandler deliberately misrepresented material facts to secure investment,” Justice Lyster wrote in her detailed 64-page decision. The court found that Chandler had no legitimate intention of providing the promised ownership stakes, instead diverting the funds for personal use.
This latest ruling comes after previous judgments against Chandler, including a 2017 order to pay $1.2 million in a similar case and another substantial judgment in 2019. Court records indicate that Chandler has a history of such disputes dating back to the early 2000s.
What makes this case particularly notable is Chandler’s continued operation in the development sector despite this growing list of adverse judgments. The CO24 Business team has learned that regulatory authorities have been monitoring Chandler’s activities for years, though effective intervention appears limited.
The judgment includes $800,000 in restitution plus $225,000 in punitive damages – an amount Justice Lyster described as necessary “to denounce and deter such predatory conduct.” The court was particularly concerned with Chandler’s “calculated scheme” that targeted individuals seeking investment opportunities in British Columbia’s historically hot real estate market.
Legal experts consulted by CO24 News suggest this case highlights significant gaps in investor protection within Canada’s real estate development sector. “When individuals can accumulate multiple fraud judgments while continuing to solicit new investments, it raises serious questions about our regulatory framework,” said Victoria-based securities lawyer Miranda Chen.
For the affected investors, collection remains uncertain. Previous judgments against Chandler have proved difficult to enforce, with assets reportedly moved or held in complex corporate structures. One investor, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration: “The judgment validates what happened to us, but we have little hope of seeing our money again.”
The case has sparked renewed calls for stronger oversight of real estate development financing in British Columbia. Housing policy experts point to this and similar cases as evidence that current protections for real estate investors remain inadequate despite reforms following Vancouver’s housing crisis.
As this pattern of judgments continues to grow, a crucial question emerges for both investors and regulators: what meaningful changes to investment oversight are needed to prevent such repeated instances of fraud in an industry so central to the Canadian economy?
