Police continue to investigate the St. Albert man allegedly responsible for a Ponzi scheme that lost investors $10 million.
Wade Robert Closson was fined a little more than $1 million by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) on Dec. 29, 2015 and was permanently banned from trading in securities.
RCMP Cpl. Laurel Scott, a spokesperson for Alberta RCMP, said the Major Crimes Unit is aware of this case and an investigation is ongoing.
“I spoke to the investigator in the Major Crimes Unit, and the response he had for me right now is that this is still very much under investigation,” she said. “No charges have been laid yet.”
The ASC decision notes that problems with Closson and his St.-Albert-based investment company Optam Holdings Inc. first came to light when Optam filed for bankruptcy in April 2013, but the problems date back further than that.
The ASC decision indicates Closson raised about $10.8 million from as many as 125 investors between Jan. 1, 2009 and April 2, 2013. Investors were issued promissory notes from Closson and Optam in one scheme, which was supposed to yield and 18-per-cent annual return, and investors in Inifinivest Mortgage Investment Corporation were to get dividends from the same operation.
The commission found Closson lied to investors. Instead of investing the money in mortgages, he used about $5.6 million of new investor money to pay returns to other investors, $3.9 million for other projects outside the scope of the investments’ purposes, and least $800,000 for his own personal use.
Almost all that money is still owed to investors.
For one investor who spoke with the Gazette and asked not to be identified, the ASC decision offers little consolation, as he suggested Closson continues to live his life as a “vibrant member of the community.”
“The frustrating part is none of it seems to affect his quality of life, no matter how much he’s fined,” he said.
As for recovering any of the money he invested – a quantity he described as significant enough he had to refinance his home – he is not optimistic.
“Even if I sued him behind the scenes or through small claims court, I’d never see my money anyway because he owes so many other people money.”
The Gazette could not contact Closson for comment.
