Orca, East Africa sued over $16-million finder's fee
2013-05-08 20:15 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Surrey businessman Harpreet Sangha has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Orca Gold Inc., claiming that the company owes him $16-million for helping to arrange a $1.6-million private placement. Mr. Sangha made introductions that were essential to the financing, but he only received a "thank you," the suit states. Without the financing, the company "would have likely ceased all operations," Mr. Sangha claims.
The allegations are contained in a notice of claim that Mr. Sangha filed at the Vancouver courthouse on Tuesday, May 7. The defendants are Orca Gold and its predecessor, Canaco Resources Inc. Also named is East Africa Metals Inc., a company that Canaco spun off.
The $16-million that Mr. Sangha is seeking stems from introductions that he made during a trip to China, according to the suit. In October, 2008, Mr. Sangha took Canaco's chief executive officer, Andrew Lee Smith, to meet "high level investors" in China. At the time Canaco was in "great financial difficulty" and the stock was at three cents, the suit states. Mr. Sangha paid for Mr. Smith to fly to China, in business class, and paid for all of his expenses, according to the suit. He also gave Mr. Smith $3,000 in spending money.