Former sales rep jailed for grow-ops

A former Markham, Ont. sales rep has been jailed for five years and fined more than $1 million for setting up the country’s largest known illegal marijuana grow-op operation.

Court records say Phu Nhi (John) Trac, 46, secured false tenancy agreements based on stolen or false identities, and turned 54 rented houses into grow-ops between 2000 and 2002. Police recovered more than 27,000 marijuana plants from these homes. Along with his wife, Trac controlled and operated two numbered bank accounts with cash deposits totaling approximately $760,000, which represented the minimum in proceeds he received from trafficking the marijuana, say court records.

Trac, a sales rep with Living Realty, was arrested in December 2002. Also committed to trial was Sau San (Jennifer) Wu, who allegedly worked for Trac. She has since “fled the court’s jurisdiction,” say police. Charges against Trac’s wife and brother were dropped.

Trac was sentenced to 14 years in prison, with some terms to be served concurrently, making the actual jail time five years. He was convicted for drug trafficking, money laundering, income tax evasion and electricity theft.

The Crown asked that Trac pay restitution of more than $257,000 to 11 homeowners whose houses were damaged by the grow operations, but the judge did not grant the request, stating that there were contentious legal issues in linking Trac to the losses of the homeowners, according to the Toronto Star.

Trac held his real estate license with Living Realty until it was revoked on June 16 of last year. At a License Appeal Tribunal hearing, Eric Chan, past president of Living Realty and Trac’s broker of record during the time of the crimes, said he had known Trac for more than 10 years and “stated he has never had any had any concern with his honesty and integrity,” says tribunal records. He said Trac was highly successful in the real estate industry and “had won a major award for top producer of the branch office in the industrial commercial investment sector.” Chan also said he was “not aware of any ethical concerns” about Trac.