Phoney Metro Vancouver developer guilty of taking thousands from investor

A Metro Vancouver resident acting as a phoney developer or someone connected to a real estate development has pleaded guilty to multiple charges after misusing funds he obtained from an investor.

Former Surrey resident Johny Panyavong was sentenced to 18 months probation after receiving 15 days of credit for time served in a BC Provincial Court.

The phoney Vancouver developer has also been ordered to pay the victim $30,000 in restitution.

You might also like:
• Opinion: BC needs "speed and boldness" to help lift people out of poverty
• City of Vancouver staff propose 5% property tax hike in 2023
• These 3 new illuminated artworks are coming to Lions Gate Village this month

According to the BC Securities Commission (BCSC), Panyavong was arrested in 2019 in Ontario on Criminal Code charges that resulted from an investigation by the BCSC Criminal Investigations Branch.

The charges stemmed from allegations that the Surrey resident misused $40,000 he solicited from a BC investor in 2016. The funds he obtained were purportedly for an investment in a Surrey real estate development.

Instead, Panyavong used most of the investor’s funds to pay for his “personal expenses,” and the development he invested in never materialized. The BCSC goes on to say that when the investor asked about the status of the development investment, he showed the investor forged financial documents.

“Despite pressing for the return of the $40,000 and the profits that had allegedly accrued, Panyavong ultimately paid the investor only $10,000,” says the BCSC.

On November 18, Panyavong pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 and one count of using forged documents.

A third charge of fraud over $5,000 was stayed.