(CBC) Two men who provided Shariah-compliant mortgages to Muslim homeowners in the GTA were acquitted of a dozen criminal charges in Ontario Superior Court Friday after a trial that began back in October 2018.
Omar Kalair and Yusuf Panchbhaya were on trial for fraud, theft, laundering the proceeds of crime, and violations under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in a case that dates back eight years. They were accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from their company that was supposed to go to a credit union that was their main financial backer.
Before handing out her 68-page decision, Justice Jane Ferguson described it as an “incredibly difficult case” that involved a “huge learning curve in Islamic finance.”
