A Langley condo developer will be extradited to the United States to face a fraud charge stemming from a failed Los Angeles property development.
The Supreme Court of Canada announced on Thursday morning that Mark Chandler would not be granted leave to appeal the extradition order.
With the highest court in the land refusing to hear his case, Chandler is out of appeals. He was scheduled to have placed himself in custody Wednesday in preparation for the verdict.
Preparations for sending Chandler to Los Angeles and into American custody are now expected to begin.
Chandler is accused of defrauding a partner and investors in the Hill Street development project, a proposed highrise condo tower, in L.A. between 2009 and 2011.
After that development failed, Chandler returned to Canada, where he began buying properties in and around Langley. Meanwhile, the FBI began investigating Hill Street, and Chandler was charged with fraud in 2015. He has been fighting extradition for the last four years.
When he arrives in Los Angeles, Chandler is expected to face an arraignment hearing and then a trial date will be set. It’s unknown if he will be granted bail, but the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Central District of California is likely to file for a detention order, which could keep Chandler behind bars while awaiting his day in court.
He was most well known for his involvement in the Murrayville House condo project, which under his ownership saw construction slow and almost grind to a halt as pre-sale purchasers anxiously saw several completion deadlines pass by.
The project was eventually placed under the management of a trustee and completed last year. Creditors have been battling in court over who will receive the proceeds of condo sales. Pre-sale buyers had all their sales cancelled by a judge in 2018.
The Langley RCMP announced an investigation of the Murrayville House project last year, but no charges have been laid against anyone.
According to the Bowra Group, the receiver for the property, the 91 units in Murrayville House were sold more than 140 times. One unit was allegedly promised to four people.
While he was awaiting his extradition hearing, Chandler committed what Department of Justice lawyer John Gibb-Carsley called an “egregious” violation of his bail conditions.
Chandler was born in Great Britain, and has British and Canadian citizenship. He turned over both a current Canadian and expired British passport to authorities when his extradition proceedings began, and was banned from leaving British Columbia.
But in the winter of 2016, he told officials at the British consulate that he had lost his passport, and acquired a temporary one to allow him to travel to Mexico.
He lied to his bail supervisor, saying he was going to Kelowna for a few days, and also called in from Mexico while on Christmas vacation, still pretending to be in Canada.
He was arrested after a private plane returned Chandler and his family to Boundary Bay Airport in Delta.
After that breach, his bail was increased to $500,000, approximately triple what it had been previously.
READ MORE: Controversial Langley condo developer fights extradition on U.S. fraud charge
