Another Conservative MP found himself in trouble on Wednesday when the Bank of Montreal named him as one of over 100 persons it is suing over an alleged mortgage scam.

Devinder Shory, Member of Parliament for Calgary Northeast, was elected in October 2008 but until now had drawn little attention.

On his website, Shory portrays himself as a hard-working immigrant who arrived in Canada with degrees from Punjabi University that were unrecognized here:

Devinder married his wife Neetu in Montreal in 1989, and they welcomed their first son Jatin into the world in 1991. In the years following their move to the Lower Mainland of B.C., Devinder and Neetu’s second and third children, son Chetan and daughter Arisha arrived.

Still unable to have his foreign credentials recognized, Devinder drove cab, started a small video store and began building homes. As the housing market fluctuated, by 1997, Devinder was ready to do whatever it took to return to his passion of law. Alberta was the province that gave the Shory family this opportunity, and after moving to Alberta for education upgrading and equivalency testing, Devinder was called to the bar in 1998. Devinder set up his law practice in Calgary Northeast and began with a focus on general law.

Devinder wasted no time in deciding to give back to the city and province which had given him his opportunity. Leading up to the 2001 provincial election, Devinder competed in the nomination race for the Alberta PCs in Calgary –McCall but lost out to the incumbent.

Devinder also began focusing on federal politics, becoming actively involved in fundraising, membership sales and event organization during the first leadership race for the newly-formed Canadian Alliance. In 2004, Devinder served for the Conservative Party of Canada as the Western Chair for the Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee and in 2006, he served on the same committee as the Conservative chair for the province of Alberta.

Reports about his involvement in an alleged mortgage scam have appeared in The Globe and Mail, CBC News, and The Star.

While the Bank of Montreal made the charges, its own website still had no statement about them on Wednesday evening.

On his Facebook page, Shory posted a brief statement:

"Through media stories, it has come to my attention that I have been named in a civil matter. I want to state that I have not yet been served with a statement of claim. When I am, I will defend myself vigourously against these accusations. I have done nothing wrong."

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.