Lucy Li probed about insurance scheme during fourth day on witness stand

In court Wednesday, much of the questions by assistant Crown attorney Mark Dean focused on the fraudulent insurance policy that Li wrote and had Romano sign just four days before the shooting.

Dean suggested the insurance scheme was intended to put pressure on Pratt and Romano to pay Li and Karafa more money. Li denied this, repeating her earlier testimony that the $1.5-million life insurance policy was instead intended to buy Karafa more time to sort out problems he was having with a business selling personal protective equipment in Europe — in which Pratt and Romano had invested.

Li agreed that she lied to Romano’s face, including presenting her with fraudulent documents, but says she only did so at Karafa’s request to buy him time amid mounting pressure from Pratt, who court has heard was a cocaine trafficker and allegedly had ties to criminal organizations.

Court has already heard that Pratt and Romano invested about $470,000 in Karafa’s PPE business, but Romano said they had received nothing in return by January 2021. She believed Karafa had millions in a European bank account, of which $3 million was Pratt and Romano’s share. She said she was told the money was tied up in Europe, where they couldn’t travel due to the pandemic. Karafa allegedly pitched Pratt on the insurance policy as a way to help move money from Europe and other benefits.

Li said she knew Pratt had invested in Karafa’s PPE business, but claimed not to know details and only became involved during the insurance policy meetings.

Li and Karafa met with Pratt and Romano four times between Jan. 19 and Feb. 24, she said. During the first two meetings at her parents then-empty Toronto house and Romano’s mother’s Hamilton house, Li said she was sincere about — and gathering information to submit — an application. But after learning that Pratt had no assets in his name, she said she realized the policy would not be approved as premiums cannot be paid in cash.

At the time Li said she was not licensed to sell the insurance policy, after allowing her licence to expire in 2019, however, she said she was “dipping her toe” back into the industry. Had the policy gone ahead legitimately, she would have submitted the application under her mother, a successful financial adviser who Li said frequently sold these 20-year policies to wealthy Chinese immigrants.

Li said it was after the second meeting that she realized the policy would never be approved, but agreed to continue to pretend to finalize the application at Karafa’s request. She said the Feb. 24 meeting was the final meeting about the insurance policy, at which she said she showed Romano a $1.5-million cheque from her mom’s company that Li said was intended to make it seem like Pratt was repaying some of the money owed. But Li said she had no intention of ever cashing that cheque, or submitting the application Romano signed.

Romano testified that she believed the final meeting was to happen March 1 — the day after the shooting — at which Karafa was also to wire Pratt $500,000. Li said she believed Romano was confused about the insurance application, but agreed that Karafa had said he would wire money that day. She said Karafa also owed her about $23,000 after she loaned him money, including $17,000 to buy the Audi Q5 in which Li and Karafa drove to the shooting scene.

Dean questioned why Li would agree to have meetings with Pratt, who she claimed to be afraid of, at her parents’ Toronto house. Li said that Pratt had already shared their address and that her parents lived in Vancouver, not at the Toronto house.

Li said she made the mistake of initially thinking she could sell Pratt and Romano a policy, and thought she could make a good commission off of that to help Karafa and also help her look good returning to the insurance industry.

“That was a moral failing on my end,” she said.

Li also agreed that creating the fraudulent insurance documents was an abuse of her position as a financial adviser. But she denied knowing anything about an alleged murder plan, including denying knowing that SIM cards had been switched in phones before she drove Karafa to Stoney Creek.

The trial continues Thursday with Li still on the stand.

Nicole O’Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com