The Bank of Montreal is suing a top mortgage specialist, Josephine Tortora, who worked out of a Burnaby, B.C. branch, according to The Vancouver Province.
The Bank of Montreal is suing a top mortgage specialist, Josephine Tortora, who worked out of a Burnaby, B.C. branch, according to The Vancouver Province.
The local paper reported Tortora allegedly split commissions with her manager, Shenaz Poonja, and transferred $245,000 to Poonja's account as payment for the 40 to 100 mortgages she referred to Tortora on an annual basis between 2004 and 2008.
The lawsuit filed by BMO further alleged the two former employees defrauded the bank by granting mortgages to 10 homeowners in Ontario based on appraisals they knew were overinflated and submitted by a third party, George Papadogambros, which is against bank policy.
Tortora, Poonja and Papdogambros have denied everything in the lawsuit except their names and addresses and the two women have filed wrongful-dismissal counterclaims, reports The Vancouver Province.
"This whole thing is bogus," Tortora told the newspaper. Poonja's lawyer said the bank was "fully aware" that his client was referring mortgages to Tortora.
