Where's Waldo? -- Day 33: It has been more than a month since the B.C. attorney-general's ministry laid 25 charges of investment fraud against former Victoria stockbroker Ian Thow, but there is still no sign of him.
A warrant for his arrest has been issued. His last known address was Seattle. The Victoria Times Colonist speculated that he could be in Jamaica, which figured in one of his allegedly bogus investment schemes. I don't think the Vancouver RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team or Crown prosecutors, who together took three full years to lay charges, have any idea where he is.
Unofficially, Thow is believed to have relieved investors of more than $30 million in his various investment schemes. The charges cover only about a third of that amount. Each involves a single person, or a couple. Major victims include members of the Goodwin family in Richmond, Derek and Leslie Stimson of Lethbridge and Thrifty Foods founder Alex Campbell of Victoria.
Smaller investors include Shirley Garwood, Helena Kells, Dick Lorette and Gloria Boudreau -- all of whom testified at the B.C. Securities Commission hearing into Thow's dealings last year.
What's particularly distressing is that the victims earned this money one dollar at a time, and Thow blew it in huge chunks.
Bankruptcy trustee Mike Cheevers analyzed 60 bank and credit card accounts and determined that, in the 30-month period from January 2003 to June 2005, Thow charged $2,648,726 on his personal MasterCard, Royal Bank Visa and Scotiagold Visa cards.
"Included in these figures are cash advances totalling $428,893, the majority of which were taken either in or close to casinos," he noted.
Cheevers also said that during the same 30-month period, Thow spent $145,313 on dining, $826,079 on trips (mainly hotel accommodation), $100,546 on jewelry, $137,963 on clothing and $180,487 on furniture.
For people like Thow -- whose nickname was "gotta-have-it-now-Thow," this sort of high living is more than a way of life, it's a psychological obsession. So wherever he is now, chances are he's still living large -- on other people's money.
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The law has caught up to real estate developer Mark Chandler again.
New Westminster police allege that Chandler and an associate, Ted Aquirre, went into the New Westminster Land Title Registry in May and filed documents to transfer title to a property assessed at $1 million.
Police say all the signatures needed to effect such a transfer -- those of the seller, buyer and witnessing lawyer -- were forged. Both Chandler and Aquirre were charged with fraud over $5,000 and using forged documents.
For Chandler, this is yet another brush with the law. In 2000, he was indicted on 13 charges of fraud, theft and forgery in Arizona. In May 2003, he entered into a plea agreement and was ordered to pay $189,500 in restitution. He was also placed on three years' probation and deported back to Canada.
After he returned to Vancouver, Chandler began developing a 21-townhouse development at 37th Avenue and Oak Street called Hamlin Mews, and was looking for a financial partner.
The catering manager of a local restaurant introduced him to real estate marketing whiz Bob Rennie. Rennie, who said he had no idea about Chandler's background, introduced him to his long-time stockbroker, George Dengin.
Dengin also had a dodgy background. In 1987, he had his securities licence permanently revoked for serious trading infractions. In 1990, he appealed that suspension and it was reduced to five years.
After they were introduced, Chandler and Dengin formed a partnership, with Dengin supplying the capital and Chandler managing the day-to-day business affairs. They proceeded to develop seven properties including Hamlin Mews; Tribeca, a 52-unit condo project at Richards and Nelson; and H+H, a 22-story condo tower at Homer and Helmcken. Rennie was hired as the marketing agent.
In the summer of 2006, the partnership blew apart in acrimony and litigation. Dengin -- supported by an affidavit filed by Rennie -- sued Chandler for allegedly misrepresenting the status of the projects and failing to account for the sale of dozens of units. Chandler filed a counter-claim, and the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission briefly stepped in to halt sale of the units.
This dispute, which is on-going, is unrelated to the alleged title fraud.
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The B.C. Securities Commission has announced it will implement new rules on Sept. 15 to curb the proliferation of sleazy Vancouver companies that trade on the dreadful OTC Bulletin Board and on pink sheets in the United States.
Readers of this column will know that Vancouver is a major originator and trafficker of shell companies that are registered for trading in the United States and used as vehicles for horrendous stock promotions.
Starting Sept. 15, the commission will deem any company that has a B.C. connection to be a B.C. reporting issuer, regardless of where the company is based or where its shares trade.
This will bring these companies, which currently operate in kind of regulatory twilight world in B.C., within the purview of the commission's compliance and enforcement people.
Readers will also know there are a slew of Vancouver brokerage firms that have been willing to deal this stock for OTC promoters and move the proceeds to foreign jurisdictions, where it disappears from sight.
This problem was addressed last month when the commission imposed new rules which, among other things, prohibit brokerage firms from trading securities in OTC issuers if the beneficial owner is unknown to them. The idea is to hold local dealers more accountable for OTC transactions.
During the past year, I have noticed a cooling in Howe Street's ardour for these stocks. I would attribute this to the commission's initiatives, and to the bright light this newspaper has shone on this very murky business.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008