Owner felt badly misled about ill-fated mall when buying it in 2005, son says

ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – A public inquiry has heard how the owner of the Algo Centre Mall felt badly misled when he bought the crumbling facility.

Levon Nazarian says no one — including the bank that inspected the mall — ever mentioned its history of leaks and water-damage problems.

Nazarian’s father bought the Elliot Lake, Ont., building in 2005 and it quickly became a financial sinkhole.

Things were so bad, Nazarian says, his father almost lost his house trying to stay afloat.

He says they were desperate to sell the mall or raise money to repair it, but nothing worked out.

Nazarian is expected to face tough questions today about what the family did before the mall collapsed last summer, killing two women.