When the Ford government issued a special zoning order to allow construction on farmland north of Toronto, it was expected to help the developer quickly build 600 “desperately needed new homes.”

But before building a single home, the firm run by Shakir Rehmatullah, one of the developers who attended Premier Doug Ford’s daughter’s wedding, divided the land into parts and sold some for what appears to be a significant profit.

Property records obtained by the Star show that Rehmatullah’s company Flato Upper Markham Village Inc. recently sold a large chunk for $62 million — four times what he originally paid in 2017 for the entire 102-acre property. Representatives of Flato have insisted that the company retains ownership of the lands and will be involved in its development, but have refused to provide details regarding the interest it currently holds in them.