The mystery surrounding Bertram Earl Jones: another financial scandal?

Bertram Earl Jones, 67-year-old, is the owner of the Montreal investment firm the Earl Jones Consultant and Administration Corporation, which started back in 1984. Strangely, Bertram Earl Jones is neither a licensed financial advisor nor even a financial planner, but he had managed assets for more than 20 years. He was also known for being a executor of wills, a management adviser and an estate planner. Until last month, Bertram Earl Jones was a well respected business man and community leader.

What went wrong?

Last month, several investors start complaining after they had stop receiving payments from the Earl Jones Consultant and Administration Corporation.

Investors who had decided to invest their live saving with Bertram Earl Jones were promised, in return, a high interest return. One investor was receiving 12-per-cent interest until this year. For another one, it was 8-per-cent interest. Different cases, different promises. But all together, those investors are suffering from what appear to be a fraud on a massive scale.

Investors, until last month, stopped receiving regular monthly payments. And some of them had to return to work. Other will probably need the help of food banks and other community services to survive.

During that time, Bertram Earl Jones remains unreachable and he has not returning phone calls or emails… On July 19, Earl Jones's wife Maxine and his daughters Kristine and Kimberly had issued a statement to the media expressing regret for the losses. This case is particularly interesting as no one knows where Bertram Earl Jones is at this time. It had been said that he’s currently in London. While being away, rumors had been said that he had contacted Richard Shadley of the Montreal law firm Shadley Battista.

With the information that had been collected so far, between 30$ to 50$ million belonging to around 50 investors are missing. The investors are from the vast majority from Canada, but there are also investors in the US who had trusted Bertram Earl Jones.

Another ponzi scheme?

Experts seem to agree that investors might have been ruined under what’s call a ponzi scheme.

According to Investopedia, a ponzi scheme is: “A fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors”. And believe it or not, the name comes from Charles Ponzi, a criminal who stayed in Montreal between 1909 and 1911! Seem like Montreal is being loved by criminals! Anyhow, after spending 3 years in prison, Charles Ponzi had returned to the United Sates, were he started a business for what he is now famous for.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Charles Ponzi “(…) promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the United States (…)”.

Until Bertram Earl Jones come forward and provide an explanation regarding this big mess, no one will ever know what happen for real.