The exchange between a Vancouver judge and a man accused in a Burnaby alleged online gambling company fraud got terse and testy June 28.
Naresh Singh Mann (a.k.a. Nash Mann) indicated to the Crown in January 2022 that he wanted to take back a guilty plea he had entered in October 2018 to one count of fraud over $5,000.
He reiterated that in court Wednesday, adding his latest lawyer Gloria Ng is no longer representing him.
And, Mann has gone through at least five lawyers before that.
Mann is alleged to have claimed the investment would generate “significant returns” in six months, according to the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC), which investigated the company.
“Rather than invest the money as promised, it is alleged Mann misappropriated the bulk of the invested funds,” stated a BCSC news release after the charges were approved in April 2018.
Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Gregory Rideout has repeatedly speculated that Mann is engaged in tactics to delay his case.
“You just want this to go away,” Rideout told Mann. “It’s not just going to go away.”
At one point, Rideout asked Mann to stop talking.
“This is my courtroom,” Rideout said.
More than 20 court dates have been scheduled in the case since Mann announced his plans to take back his guilty plea, but the application has yet to be made.
In May, lawyer Chandra Corriveau withdrew from the record, citing a “loss of confidence.”
When Mann began to assert Ng had not provided competent representation, Rideout stopped him.
“You’re not going to slag somebody . . . when she’s not here to defend herself,” Rideout said. “It’s not going to fly with me.”
Rideout said it could be possible Ng might have to waive solicitor-client privilege to explain in court what happened in the solicitor-client relationship with Mann.
Rideout told Mann the onus was on him to get legal representation.
“I have not fired one lawyer,” Mann shot back.
“There was a breakdown in the lawyer-client relationship,” Rideout responded. “This thing has dragged on and on and on.”
Rideout expressed concern in May about how old the case was. He did so again this week.
With files from Cornelia Naylor
