MAN TELLS OF DRUG CHARGE NIGHTMARE

Undoing Damage Will Take Time, Says Father Of Four

Crown Admits It Has No Case Against Mortgage Official

For 15 years, Andrew Wong has excelled as a mortgage broker, winning praise
for his performance and productivity.

But on Dec. 11, his world was turned upside down. He was met at work by two
officers, who arrested and searched him in front of his co-workers,
explaining he was being charged with conspiring to produce $35.5 million
worth of marijuana.

York Region police alleged that Wong arranged the financing for 22 houses
used for marijuana growing operations, targeted through a six-month
investigation dubbed Project New Voltage, which led to the arrests of 39
people last month.

Wong said he was hauled off to a police station, locked up in a small room
and interrogated.

"They said they had tons of information against me," Wong said yesterday.
"They were very rude. They threatened that if I didn't say anything, I was
going to rot in jail."

The officer refused to let him contact a lawyer directly, he says. He later
got his first taste of prison when he was taken to the Metro West Detention
Centre.

The next morning, Wong said, he was handcuffed together with eight other
inmates and taken to court for a bail hearing, where he was released on a
$50,000 surety.

But yesterday, the prosecution stood up in court and admitted there was no
case against the 46-year-old father of four, who had been suspended from
his job without pay after being charged.

Adam Boni, Wong's criminal lawyer, said a title search of the houses
targeted in the investigation proved his client had no involvement in
buying or selling them. Moreover, the mortgages for many of the properties
weren't even arranged through his employer, a major financial institution.

Wong was immediately reinstated in his old job and was back at work
yesterday. But it could take many years to overcome the devastating
repercussions of being charged, he said.

"It's been very hard," Wong said in an interview. "It took me 15 years to
build up my reputation; it's going to take a long time to undo the damage."

A spokesperson for York Region police was contacted yesterday for an
explanation and told the Star he would find some officers who could
respond, but nobody called back.