Class-action suit alleges immigration scam

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This article was published 10/08/2020 (1635 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man has filed a class-action lawsuit against suspended immigration lawyer Paul Hesse, who is accused of abusing his position to solicit investments for businesses tied to himself and a former romantic partner.

Haokuang Tan is the lead plaintiff in a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench last week.

Pitblado Lawe, Hesse’s former law firm, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The class action has yet to be certified by a court.

“This is the first step in a process that will take some time,” Tan’s lawyer, Ken Zaifman, said Monday.

The lawsuit alleges Hesse persuaded Tan in March 2019 to invest $350,000 in a numbered Manitoba company, telling Tan the investment was safe and guaranteed and was a necessary requirement if his immigration application was to succeed.

“Unknown to (Tan), the company had been incorporated by the defendants just one month earlier,” the lawsuit alleges, with Hesse representing both the company and its sole director, former romantic partner Patrick Maxwell.

“None of the funds were used for the benefit of the class member,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, the proposed class-action lawsuit would include anyone who retained Hesse, invested money in a Canadian company and suffered a financial loss.

Hesse “held himself out as being knowledgeable, skilled and experienced in the area of immigration law,” alleges the lawsuit. “The plaintiff and the class were vulnerable to Hesse’s exercise of discretion or power as a result of the inequality levels of sophistication and because of language barriers.

The proposed class-action is the fourth lawsuit to be filed against Hesse since he was terminated as a partner at Pitblado Law in June 2019.

Brandon resident Ashraf Azer sued Hesse last December, seeking repayment of a $200,000 investment Hesse allegedly encouraged him to make.

Hesse is also being sued by former clients Xiaomei and Xuefeng Zhang, who allege a $200,000 loan to Hesse has not been repaid, as well as former Manitoba lieutenant-governor Philip Lee, who alleges Hesse defaulted on a $60,000 loan issued through Lee’s company last year.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca