By ThinkPol Staff

A Richmond city official is trying to flip a condo within a year of buying it at twice the price she paid for it, Thinkpol has found.

City of Richmond Community Facility Co-ordinator Renata Turick bought the unit at ‘The Pier’ at 6168 London Road for $639,900 in September 2016, documents obtained by ThinkPol and corroborated through Land Title and Survey Authority data show.

Turick listed the two-bedroom two-bathroom 1,067 Sq Ft unit for sale on MLS with a price tag of $1,298,000 within a year.

The flip was brought to Thinkpol’s attention by another City of Richmond official, who claimed that this was more common that people thought.

“If you ever wondered why the City of Richmond is doing less than even City of Vancouver to crackdown on rampant speculation, now you know why,” the official told Thinkpol on the condition of anonymity. “Richmond officials are profiting off this criminal enterprise.”

The whistleblower added that the city officials were turning a blind eye to money laundering and tax evasion running rampant in the city as they were profiting from illegal activities.

“It’s their personal cash cow,” the official added. “They know there’s a guaranteed return on investment. Endless supply of global criminals keep pumping proceeds crime in the market driving property prices up.”

The official claimed that the City of Richmond officials involvement in speculation explains their reluctance to take action against speculative development in the Agriculture Land Reserve where farmland is being converted into mega mansions .

“They don’t give two hoots about the Richmond taxpayers who pay their salaries ,” the whistleblower said. “It’s all about lining their pockets through playing the real estate market on the side.”

“When you get to write the rules, you always get to win,” the official concluded.