I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity, as individuals, to express the pain we have in our heart and talk about what happened to us.
I am the spouse of one of Leon Kordzian's victims. I was one of the first to discover that there was a scheme behind all of this. I went to the police, who told me they were sorry about what had happened to me. They told me there was absolutely nothing that could be done. The police didn't even have the decency to go and meet with this gentleman. They said there was nothing that could be done about this type of crime, that the guilty parties never go to prison and that the money is never recovered.
At that point, I set aside my own work and went into the community to find out more about the people this gentleman had dealings with — the people he talked to. I did a little investigative work and discovered there were 45 victims. I went to see them. Most of them are seniors, vulnerable people, women who are single parents, people who had made small investments, and who lost everything. These were not very wealthy investors, but they did have some savings. They lost everything. We had to mobilize all these people, change the culture and tell them that they shoudn't be afraid, and that they had to get help.
That was when we went to see Ms. Mourani — most of the victims live in her riding, in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville — to tell her that we needed help, that the police were not helping us at all and that nothing was being done. So, people mobilized. That was how we were finally able to discover that there were 45 victims. Of those victims, there was one who spoke neither French nor English. Mr. Kordzian took that person to the bank and got him to open a $55,000 line of credit, which he then stole. That lady is now working seven days a week at minimum wage to pay back her line of credit. Some elderly people lost everything and don't have any money left for the care they need.
And yet this gentleman is still out on the street, as though nothing had happened. He is a psychopath who planned this operation for months, perhaps even years.
As for Norbourg, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the judge but, all of a sudden, reality hits and we see that it takes five years to do an investigation, that you need lawyers, and so. Then, in no time at all, 11 months later, this gentleman gets out of prison. How is that possible? The judge handed down the sentence; so who actually decides? Furthermore, when he gets out of prison, this gentlemen will have some $90 million that's currently hidden somewhere in the world. He'll do a little community work, and have a good time. These people are extremely manipulative. He will go away somewhere and have the luxury of a nice retirement on the backs of people who will have to continue to work for the rest of their lives to recover what they've lost.
It isn't fair. Things don't work that way in other countries. In the United States, for example, Madoff was sentenced to 100 years in prison. In a case like that, a fraudster or thief thinks twice before committing a crime. Kordzian told me, nonchalantly, that there was nothing I could do. However, we are sitting here in Parliament today, trying to find a way of deterring these individuals.
Thank you.