Ajax councillor sued for defaulted loans loses seat

Renrick Ashby is out after filing an incomplete election finance statement. Court documents claim Ashby and associates defaulted on loans of $300,000 to open an illegal nightclub.



Thestar.com
March 30, 2015
By Daniel Otis


Renrick Ashby lost his Ajax council seat on Monday after filing an incomplete election finance statement.

A town councillor since he won a 2008 byelection, Ashby is also currently being sued for allegedly defaulting on loans totalling nearly $300,000 - much of that, he claims, tied to his failed efforts to open a nightclub across from Ajax town hall.

In addition to his political career, Ashby is also a full-time planner with the City of Toronto, where he earns more than $100,000 a year.

Ontario’s Municipal Elections Actrequires political candidates to file a post-election financial statement. Ashby, who filed his statement one minute before a 2 p.m. deadline on Friday, failed to fill out his statement in full. With expenses and contributions both exceeding $10,000, Ashby also failed to file a necessary auditor’s report.

“The financial statement submitted by Renrick Ashby, the elected Councillor for Ward 2, was incomplete and not in compliance with the financial filing requirements under the Municipal Elections Act,” Martin de Rond, Ajax’s director of legislative services and information services, said in an email. “As a result, Mr. Ashby forfeited his Councillor Ward 2 seat and the office is deemed vacant.”

Ajax council now has 60 days to appoint someone to fill Ashby’s seat. Alternatively, it can pass a bylaw authorizing a byelection. Ashby is not eligible to be elected to any municipal office until the next regular election has taken place in October 2018.

Ashby did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The loss of his seat comes after the Star revealed that statements of claim filed with the Superior Court in Oshawa and Toronto, most of which have not been proven, show Ashby is alleged to have borrowed significant sums from at least four people as personal loans. Two of the loans, according to the statements of claim, came with the promise of high interest rates and fast returns.

In all four cases, Ashby defaulted on the loans, according to the statements of claim and two statements of defence. A judgment has already been made in one of the lawsuits, after which a judge ordered the garnishing of Ashby’s wages.

In addition, Ashby has been named as a defendant in at least two civil lawsuits that claim he and others involved in the operation of the now-defunct Nexx Night Club & Lounge in Ajax, of which Ashby was the president, owe a total of more than $200,000. These claims have not been proven in court.

In emails to the Star and two separate statement of defence documents filed with the court in Oshawa, Ashby maintains the loans were tied to his efforts to open the nightclub. According to Ashby, Nexx Night Club & Lounge was shuttered shortly after it was found to be operating without a liquor licence in late 2012.

“These matters relate to a personal business investment and are currently subject to settlement negotiations,” Ashby told the Star in an email after being provided with a full list of the allegations. “I anticipate a satisfactory resolution to all parties involved, in due course.”

In addition to his work as a councillor, Ashby has been a full-time planner with the City of Toronto since 2003. His earning placed him on the current “sunshine list” of six-figure earners, with a salary of $102,774.04 in 2014. Ajax ward councillors earned a base salary of $35,351.00 in 2014. Ashby had the highest remuneration of all Ajax councillors in 2014, receiving a total of $56,329.45 with his salary, travel allowance and expenses combined.

Allegations against Ashby, according to statements of claim, include the following:

In March 2012, Rowena Lindsay of Toronto provided Ashby with a personal loan of $30,000. Ashby agreed to repay her $32,500 in June 2012. In September 2012, Ashby gave Lindsay $18,000. He also allegedly wrote her two bad cheques. After Lindsay failed to secure the remainder of the money owed, she filed a statement of claim in November 2013 that included receipts and a loan agreement signed by Ashby.

“I cannot believe that you would be willing to jeopardize our friendship, your professional positions and put in question your integrity,” Lindsay said in a September 2012 email included with her claim. “Your actions to date and conduct have been blatantly fraudulent and unbecoming of someone in your position and of your stature.”

According to Superior Court documents, Ashby did not file a statement of defence, nor did he appear at an assessment hearing. In April 2014, a judgment was made to garnish $15,355.86 from Ashby’s City of Toronto wages. “By the time you go to print, payment arrangements with Rowena Lindsay will be complete,” Ashby told the Star via email.

In April 2012, Klamann provided Ashby with a series of personal loans totalling $40,000. Ashby agreed to pay her back $59,383.50 in July 2012. Klamann was eventually given a total of $25,000. Klamann filed a statement of claim in October 2014 for $25,000 (the maximum allowed for small claims court), which included receipts and promissory notes signed by Ashby. Klamann told the Star she could not pursue the full balance owed to her in civil court because she cannot afford to hire a lawyer. A settlement conference has been scheduled for May 26.

In Ashby’s statement of defence, he admits to not repaying the loan in full. “Ms. Klamann is presenting this case as though she loaned me money out of the goodness of her heart when the intent at all times was to make more money than she actually loaned out,” Ashby said in his statement of defence. “As she has waited more than 2 years to bring this action forward, I believe that the limitation period for making a claim has passed.”

In June 2012, Mohamed Karatella of Ajax provided Ashby with a personal loan of $20,000. Karatella said the money could be repaid within four weeks without interest. After four weeks had passed, Ashby agreed to pay Karatella with 12 per cent interest. In a statement of claim filed in court in August 2014, which included a loan agreement signed by Ashby, Karatella says he has received none of this money to date.

“(T)here are extenuating circumstances as to why this money has not been repaid,” Ashby said in his statement of defence. “Mr. Karatella is taking a very punitive position regarding the loan considering that he would have benefitted significantly has the business succeeded.” Ashby did not attend a November 2014 settlement conference, court documents show.

In April 2013, Waqqas Syed of Ajax provided Ashby with a personal loan of $8,600. Syed said the money could be repaid by August 2013 without interest. In his October 2014 statement of claim, Syed states he has received none of this money to date. Ashby has not filed a statement of defence. “(Ashby) came to me on 9 April 2013 asking for C$ 20,000 to save his life from his partners,” Syed’s handwritten statement reads. “He was hiding somewhere in Scarborough ... I trusted him as my councillor which forced me to help him.” In an email to the Star, Ashby said, “I don’t know why he would make a statement like that.”

In each of these cases, the plaintiffs maintain that Ashby ignored repeated requests to have money returned. In emails to the Star and statements of defence, Ashby maintains that these loans were investments in Nexx. The three statements of claim that included promissory notes and/or loan agreements signed by Ashby show that payments were made directly to Ashby - not to the club.

“The finance capital was provided by personal investors,” Ashby said in an email to the Star in response to the allegations outlined in the four cases listed above. “These were investors in a business; they believed in the business plan. My role as a councillor had absolutely nothing to do with them investing. The start up, regrettably never made a profit for investors, but in fact, lost money and closed.”

Nexx Night Club & Lounge opened for business in late 2012. It was almost directly across the street from Ajax Town Hall. According to Ashby, it was only open for one event.

In December 2012, Ashby, Nexx Night Club & Lounge Inc., and other parties involved with the operation of the club were charged by Durham Regional Police with operating the establishment without a liquor licence. At the same time, the town’s bylaw office charged the same group with operating an entertainment establishment without a permit.

Ashby pleaded guilty to all charges in May 2013 and was ordered to pay fines totalling $8,500. Given a year to pay these fines, Ashby defaulted. The police fines were not paid until October of last year - mere weeks before an Oct. 27 municipal election in which Ashby retained his seat on Ajax’s council. The bylaw fines were not paid until December 2014. Ashby paid an additional $2,225 in fees for the late payments, according to a spokesperson from the town.

“Many factors and many people were involved, but at the end the day the process was not entirely complete and mistakes were made for which I ultimately took full responsibility,” Ashby said via email about the liquor licence violations.

The Star has also learned that additional lawsuits have been filed against Ashby and other parties involved with Nexx at Ontario Superior Court of Justice locations in Toronto and Oshawa. According to statements of claim, these are among the unproven allegations:

In July and August of 2012, Kellyanne Burke and 1868621 Ontario Inc. provided a loan of $200,000 to Ashby and other parties involved with the club. Ashby and other parties agreed to repay the loan with interest in 16 installments. Only four payments were made. A statement of claim was filed with the Superior Court of Justice in December 2014. Ashby and the other parties have not responded with a statement of defence. In an email to the Star, Ashby said that he believes one of his partners at Nexx drafted this agreement. “I did not enter into any verbal or contractual agreement with Kelly Burke,” Ashby said. “(I)n fact I had never met Kelly Burke.”

In September 2011, Sean Marriott began working for Ashby and other parties at the club. Marriott claims he received only $18,800 for his work and is owed an additional $18,800, plus other expenses and fees. A numbered company, of which Marriott is the sole director, filed a statement of claim in 2012. Ashby and the other parties never filed a statement of defence.
In 1992, Ashby declared bankruptcy with liabilities of $178,000 and assets of $2,350, according to federal government records. He was discharged from bankruptcy a year later. In 2008, Ashby purchased a house in Ajax for more than $440,000. In 2011, he took out a loan for more than $11,000 to purchase a 2004 BMW.

Although people were demanding money from him, last September Ashby was still able to secure a $38,494 loan from TREND Financial - an Etobicoke-based firm that advertises itself as “provid(ing) bad credit car loans and bad credit auto financing” - to purchase a 2007 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan.

According to Town of Ajax spokesperson Christie McLardie, Ashby is the subject of a Council Code of Conduct investigation, with a report expected in April.

“(W)e will not be disclosing the nature of the complaint until after the integrity commissioner has completed his investigation and reported to Council,” McLardie said in an email. “In the event of a violation, the commissioner may recommend that Council impose either or both of the following two penalties: a reprimand and/or the suspension of remuneration paid for a period up to 90 days.”