Former Hamilton mortgage broker Dinesh Khanna was found guilty on three out of six counts of sexual assault and not guilty on one count of fraud.
63-year-old Dinesh, better known as Dennis, appeared in court Tuesday in the judge only trial on six counts of sexual assault involving four female clients and one count of fraud.
Both the crown and defence read their closing submissions, “they need something from him and he is in a position to provide it. He knows that and leverages that” assistant crown attorney Fraser McCracken, who portrayed Khanna as a man who preyed on financially vulnerable women, taking advantage of them, threatening to revoke their mortgages if they did not perform sexual favours.
Defence lawyer John Rosen said, “we reject the position of the crown and believe Mr. Khanna should be acquitted on all counts.” Calling into question the reliability of Khanna’s accusers, saying their stories were fabrications.
In his closing remarks, Justice James Ramsay also called two of the women’s testimonies into question, saying he has grave concerns about one woman’s credibility. However, he believed the other two and called one plausible.
Ramsay also said he’s not an expert on the world of loans and mortgages, but called Khanna ‘a bottom feeder’ of his industry.
Khanna’s broker license was revoked back in 2015. He ran a financial planning business on King street in Hamilton during the time of the assaults.
Khanna had pleaded not guilty on all counts. He is set to be back at John Sopinka courthouse on February 28th for sentencing.
