VANCOUVER -- A convicted gun trafficker who recently served prison time in the U.S. has been ordered to pay $18,000 to TD Canada Trust for “reprehensible conduct” after a B.C. judge rejected his claim that the bank honoured a forged cheque from his account.

Oliver King, formerly known as Hamid Malekpour, filed suit against TD over a $97,000 cheque that he claimed was paid out despite an explicit written warning that it was forged.

But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper dismissed the lawsuit in a scathing decision Thursday, writing that there was no warning, the cheque was made out to King’s brother, and it was not forged.

There is no indication that King has asked his brother, Davar Malakpour, to repay him. He has also denied signing several other, smaller cheques made out to his brother, sister and lawyer, but has not sought repayment of those amounts.

The bank was granted its request for special costs against King after lawyers argued that he, “attempted to deceive TD and the court; he lied repeatedly.”

Among the apparent lies outlined in this bizarre decision were claims that King did not know either his brother or his sister and that he couldn’t remember if he was convicted of weapons charges in States.

King claimed he had written a letter to TD while he was incarcerated, informing the bank that “nobody under no circumstances can withdraw money out of my account.” But TD says it never received a letter from him, and during the discovery phase of the trial, King said he couldn’t remember typing the note or mailing it.

Those memory lapses, the judge wrote, were simply unbelievable.

“Mr. King did not send a typewritten letter to TD on July 30, 2010, or at any time,” Gropper wrote.

“Mr. King’s lack of recollection of sending the letter, in spite of the fact he would have had to do so from a United States prison, leads me to conclude that he did not send such a letter. The fact that the bank did not receive the letter corroborates my conclusion.”

King also failed to disclose that he has received a substantial amount of money from his brother in the time since the supposedly forged cheque was cashed.

That information led to another acerbic remark from the judge, who suggested there may be a better place than TD for King to find his money.

“Mr. King has received $28,000 from his brother. He can look to his brother for repayment of the remaining amount,” Gropper wrote.

King was sentenced to six years in an American prison in 2011 after he was convicted of weapons charges and making false statements to officials. The charges stem from his arrest in 2010, when he travelled from B.C. to Oregon and returned to the border area with 21 guns.

The judge who heard that case also scolded King for his dishonesty, calling attention to a “pattern of lying” and some “incredible” testimony.

It’s not clear when he was released from prison, but he served as his own lawyer in his case against TD.

With file from Kim Bolan

blindsay@vancouversun.com