New home owners in a community near Cochrane are picking up the pieces after they paid thousands of dollars in deposits only to find the builder out of business and the warranty that they thought would offer them protection worth nothing.
Massive deposits were paid and contracts were signed with Navin Maghera and Modena Homes to build a number of million dollar homes in the community of Monterra.
But before many of the homes were complete, the builder disappeared and trades people put liens on the homes to recoup money as they say they hadn't been paid.
Adding insult to injury, the homeowners thought they were covered by a new home warranty which turned out to be false.
"After I found out they went belly up, I contacted the home warranty people to find out the number I had on my home warranty was a number given to many people," said homeowner Gary Walsh.
"We tried to build this house, and it's a custom build, and put a lot of money into it because we thought we would enjoy it. All of a sudden we woke up one morning and everything stopped," said homeowner Stanley Zahara.
A lot of people were affected and one couple was apparently on the verge of divorce because of the financial strain.
Another man is taking time off work to complete the unfinished work on his home and the Zaharas are moving back home to B.C.
Navin Maghera and Modena Homes face 16 charges under the Fair Trading Act and the Criminal Code.
The charges include fraud, theft, and misleading a consumer.
The misleading a consumer charge carries a penalty which could be three times the amount obtained in the offense and up to two years in jail.
It will be up to the judge to decide if the defendant will be ordered to pay back the money to the victims if he is found guilty.
Service Alberta says more calls concerning Modena Homes are coming in so they've also opened up some new files to investigate.
Maghera will appear in court in Cochrane on July 22.
