L’Autorité des marchés financiers (Quebec securities regulator) has frozen the assets of a Montreal investment company Earl Jones Consultant and Administration Corp after the owner vanished last week. CBC:
A message left on the answering machine of the longtime investment adviser based out of the Montreal suburb of Pointe Claire earlier today suggests investors might not see their money again.
“If you are calling regarding your account with us, we are not in the position to remit your funds,” a male voice on the recording says.
“In the meantime, phone calls and mail will not be answered.”
Earl Jones has managed assets and estates for more than 20 years.
Several clients have come forward and told CBC News they have stopped receiving regular payments related to their investments, and that Jones is nowhere to be found.
Quebec’s financial watchdog said based on information it has collected, Jones is suspected of diverting between $30 million and $50 million in investments belonging to about 50 investors.
The regulator believes most of the investors who are affected are residents of Quebec but said some could be from elsewhere in Canada and the United States.
Swindled by Earl Jones is a Facebook page started by investors and their families. This is a good idea. Talking about being conned with others, aids those betrayed, wiped out and harmed, and in loss can be a way to focuses and empower.
It enables financial investigators, law enforcement and media to find those harmed, it help families and friends meet others and help each other. It’s a place to gather for latest news, updates and plan how to go forward as a group.
Investors and their families are in shock:
How could this happen in a tightly regulated country like Canada (CSC)????
We are trying to organize a solid law suit against this criminal.
I have not been a canadian resident in 25 years but I have considerable securities industry experience in the US and overseas. My mother had her entire retirement savings with earl jones. I think we victims need to get together and organize ourselves to ensure 1) recovery, 2) prosecution, and 3) future prevention. We need the best lawyer (or probably 2 to keep themselves honest) to represent us. I am setting up a website www.swindledbyearljones.com to coordinate ourselves. I can’t make it sunday to the meeting at the holiday inn but will be in Montrael monday to dig in. In the meantime please FB me or my daughter, Kelley with ideas,comments etc. or email
lets get what we can, lock this guy up and prevent future fraud.My mother, 83 years old, and my whole family have lost alot of money. I hope that something can be done. Where is he? Where did he record his telephone message from? Was he already out of the country or was he in the office this morning? Does he really have two daughters and a very sick wife or is it all a fraud. We have been trying for months to get our money. You can’t trust anyone.
Same way it happens south of the 49th; it happens on the SEC’s watch and I don’t expect the CSC is that much better at heading off fraud before the fact.
(1) Crook sells off securities held “in street name” for clients.
(2) Crook wires proceeds to offshore account of his.
(3) Crook retires to place that doesn’t have extradition treaty with Canada.
We already have some laws regulating (2) in North America, but I’m not sure that a broker’s transfer from a Canadian to a, say, Cayman Islands account would be enough to trigger a stoppage.
If we made folks hand-deliver securities to the new owners when sold rather than have them held by the broker, it would severely slow down the stock market; the lack of liquidity would harm the stock market more than additional liquidity of the current system helps would-be crooks.
Thanks Mark.
I think investors in this case banding together is more hopeful that what we are seeing in the Driver case.
Investors taking control (sadly after the fact) encourages enforcement agencies who investigate and attempt to stop affinity fraud, and hopefully encourages other groups of investors who have been scammed.
While it happens in all sectors of investments, religious affinity fraud seems to shock people, trust levels are higher.
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Just because someone uses God talk doesn’t mean they are a Christian.
Lesson learned, don’t invest with someone from your church or group you think you know.
Do your homework.
It’s been reported everywhere in the French-language press
that Earl Jones had absolutely no registration with any financial
authority in Quebec.
Jones was able to continue operations–without licence–for
more than 20 years and nobody was the wiser.
It’s sad that nobody thought to check with the provincial
licencing authority about his credentials. After all fake
doctors and lawyers soon get found and brought before the
courts.
The laxness of the financial authority in not surveying all
financial managers–legal or not–is very saddening.
Now many people are greatly dislocated and hurt.
Mediaeval guilds had ways of ensuring compliance of
their trades/craftsmen. Professional licencing bodies
should be doing the same thing today–particularly to
weed out the fakes and the questionable operators.
The question becomes how many Earl Jones are operating with impunity?
While I can appreciate investors need to do their homework, licenced advisors pull off scams also.
No one thought to ask.
That is so chilling.
Jones victims have at least taken very public steps to help others become more aware, and hopefully help themselves recover.
There has been nothing regarding Gordon Driver/Axcess Canadians investors. Nothing on them banding together, going public, it’s as if all hope has been drained from them, and they will remain faceless voiceless victims. So much more than money has been taken.
Jones victims have a better opportunity for psychological and community healing because they have refused to be silent, refuse to behave as victims.
In not hiding their faces, in refusing to hide their fear or cower, in demanding media cover their experience, they are doing a great deal to hold more people than Earl Jones accountable.
Sadly that is not the norm in religious affinity fraud.
Regulators can’t keep up, the system is stacked in favour of the ones who work it. Investment and affinity fraud is a major white collar crime with ponzi schemes an uncheck foundation.
Were the first two guys involved with Gordon Drivers software licenced?
Gordon Driver wasn’t.
David Rutledge, who helped Driver bring in the second wave of Drivers Crossroads investors wasn’t.
Would Driver have been stopped sooner if he had been licenced?
Doubtful. Affinity fraud works on trust, guilt and deflecting questions.
How does anyone know the first two men who were involved with furthering Drivers Axcess Automation/Funds have stopped? We don’t. Nor does anyone know if David Rutledge has stopped.
The Axcess court documents make if very clear investigators do not believe Driver will stop, no matter how the civil court case plays out.
The financial regulatory community has some serious accounting to do to the Canadian public. I don’t see it happening, nor do I see justice.
An educated and aware investing public is not going to be enough.
I pray that justice prevails in each situation.
The Montreal Gazette has a list for investors of who they can contact to fill out complaints in Canada and the US.
These include law enforcement, financial enforcement agencies.
As well it lists online investor sites set up to help other Jones victims.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/contact victim Earl Jones/1794092/story.html