Vancouver's Paolo Aquilini is being sued in BC Supreme Court for $641,878.52, for allegedly borrowing money to pay a non-refundable deposit in a real estate transaction that failed to complete, and then not repaying his lender. The lawsuit lists the money the lender seeks without specifying that it is in U.S. dollars, although that was the currency in which the deposit was allegedly made.
Toronto-based lender Two Shores Capital Corp. is suing Aquilini, who is brother to Roberto and Francesco Aquilini. They and father Luigi are principals and managing partners at the Aquilini Investment Group, which is worth billions of dollars and owns substantial real estate holdings as well as the Vancouver Canucks.
Paolo Aquilini allegedly approached Two Shores in February 2023 to finance buying a penthouse unit at 1 West Century Drive, in Los Angeles.
He had agreed to buy the property for US$21 million, and to pay the seller a US$630,000 deposit, said the lawsuit, which was filed March 12. The agreement allegedly stipulated that if Aquilini failed to complete the transaction, the seller would get to keep the deposit.
Aquilini also allegedly agreed that if the transaction failed to complete, he would still owe Two Shores the money it lent him, plus interest and a one-per-cent arrangement fee.
"The loan principal shall bear interest at a rate of 10 per cent per annum from 22 January 2024, until the loan principal is paid in full," the lawsuit said. "If any payment on the loan principal is not made as it comes due, the interest rate will automatically increase, with no notice required, by 1.5 per cent per month until the maximum allowable interest is reached and remain until the default is cured."
The lawsuit also alleges that the agreement stated that if Aquilini "fails to perform any obligation under the loan agreement to pay the loan principal or interest when due" the loan would effectively be in default. That, it said, would mean that "all sums" under the loan agreement would become "immediately due."
The amount Two Shores seeks includes the original loan plus the cost of collection, as well as attorneys' fees, including charges for paralegals, appraisers, experts and consultants working under the supervision of Two Shores' lawyers.
The real estate transaction allegedly failed on or about Feb. 23, which immediately meant that the loan agreement was in default. As a result, Two Shores, on that day, demanded immediate repayment of $641,878.52, it said. (This figure is likely supposed to be in U.S. dollars but the lawsuit does not specify that Two Shores' demand was in that currency. Amounts in dollars in lawsuits filed in B.C. are considered to be in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.)
None of the allegations in the lawsuit has been proven in court.
Aquilini has yet to file a response to the notice of civil claim.
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