Winnipeg property owner Jeff Rabb charged with misuse of funds

A Winnipeg property developer has been formally charged with misappropriating more than$425,000.

Jeff Rabbwas investigated by the Manitoba Securities Commission, which accused him and his company, Winpark Dorchester Properties, of flawed accounting and misuse of funds.

A police spokesperson confirmed Friday morning that Rabbis charged with one count of false pretences.

The commission alleged Rabbcharged third-partyowners of buildingsmanaged by his company for work that was never done. Rabbhad a company prepare fake invoices, the commission said.

He or a general manager of Winpark also had a company providing services claim work was done on the third-party propertieswhen it was actually carried out on Rabb's own home or those of relatives and employees,the commission alleged.

Of the$426,000 Rabbis accused of misappropriating,$365,000 wasfor services, products and supplies inappropriately charged to third-party property owners, the commission said. Heused money for home renovations and building a hockey rink in his backyard, among other things, the commission alleged.

The commission alleged either Rabb or a Winpark director tried to cover their tracks by whiting out job site locations on invoices or receipts and then changing them to other property addressesWinpark managesthat didn't received any services.

Another$61,000 inPower Smartrebate application payments were paid to Winparkby nine properties, the security commission said.

The Manitoba Hydro program offeredrebates to commercial properties for doing things such as upgradingwindows, but the commission allegedthe nine properties that filed applications through Winpark never received the associated efficiency upgrades.

The alleged misappropriations happened between June 2009 and 2015 and affected 50 Winpark-managed properties.

The Power Smart rebate allegations stem from incidents between 2011 and 2014.

Winpark Dorchester changed its name to Alderman Capital Corporation in March 2016.The commission suspended Alderman's brokerage licence, and Rabb by extension, in July 2018 when it failed to file an annual trust account report.