Fraud case involving alien seems a bit spacy
By JANIS MACKEY FRAYER
Saturday, February 22, 2003 - Page B4
An Oklahoma court has entered a default judgment against a Vancouver-area Internet promoter in a bizarre story of alleged shams, bogus cheques, alien contact and royal connections.
The court ordered Garry Stroud to pay $2-million (U.S.) in connection with a civil fraud case filed in 2001 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC claims Mr. Stroud fleeced about $1-million in total from at least 2,200 investors worldwide by hawking bogus investments in different "prime bank" trading programs and so-called Morgenthau Gold Bond Certificates (not to be confused with the foot powder). A relief defendant in the case, Adele Louros of Montreal, is the named holder of several Internet payment accounts linked to Mr. Stroud, according to the SEC.
Now initially, Mr. Stroud was as unknown to the U.S. establishment as the Juno Awards, poutine or David Frum. Authorities took an interest in his alleged sucker schemes only after he introduced himself with a $9-million rubber cheque from a non-existent Swiss bank.
The cheque was tendered as part of a purported settlement in yet another case, this one involving an unemployed single father named Donald English. Mr. English is credited with orchestrating one of the greater alleged Ponzi schemes of our time -- absorbing $50-million from the masses in just a few weeks back in 2001. The pyramid collapsed when the payouts stopped and Mr. English spent 40 days in an Oklahoma jail on a contempt charge for failing to fess up where the money went.
Then along came Mr. Stroud -- seemingly out of the blue -- who offered to pay $9-million to reimburse those cheated by Mr. English's venture. The infamous cheque bounced, but Mr. Stroud allegedly made off with the list of investors and started working the phones. That's when the British Columbia Securities Commission joined the fun, too.
The more investigators sniffed, the stranger the stink they found. Among other spectacular declarations, Mr. Stroud claimed an interest in Peruvian debt paper worth more than $1-trillion to the American government. Mr. Stroud reportedly told one of the SEC's lawyers that he got the bonds from a woman in shortwave radio contact with Hatton, a 9½-foot tall extraterrestrial who has been circling Earth for some time now. Guess it's tough to find parking for a spaceship.
Mr. Stroud did not return a phone call this week to his place in Aldergrove, B.C., a small farming community in the Fraser Valley Bible Belt. However, he once politely told a British reporter that it was Mr. English who operated a Ponzi scheme -- not he. Mr. Stroud then added, quite cheerfully, "You know, I'm the Queen's fifth cousin."
And you thought
stamps were costly
Pity the poor lobbyist who thought it would be a great use of resources to take André Ouellet to a basketball game. The chief postmaster was spotted court side at a Toronto Raptors match recently, looking somewhat bored by his host's ear-contorting chatter. When half time rolled around, Mr. Ouellet promptly rolled out -- likely to hop the next Rapidair to Ottawa from the island airport (his weekly expense summary may confirm that).
Second-row seats go for $525.00 a pop -- meaning somebody paid $1,050.00 (or the equivalent of 2,187.5 regular stamps for domestic mail delivery) to entertain Mr. Ouellet for the 24 minutes he stuck around. A quick rattle of the abacus works it out to $43.75 a minute or $2,625.00 an hour for his time -- not your typical public service rate.
Read giving ski
group a lift
It seemed rather fitting that ski racing legend Ken Read made a speech this week to the Commercial Finance Association. The CFA brings together that population of Crazy Canucks that deals in risk management, insolvency and asset-based lending. And the former World Cup champion is spearheading a restructuring himself these days as the new head of Alpine Canada.
When Mr. Read took the gig in May, the organization and skier morale was sliding faster than he did at Val d'Isère in 1975. Since then, he has landed new corporate sponsors like Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, forged training partnerships with European countries, and made key acquisitions, including former national coach Max Gartner.
The result? Canada's first world downhill championship in a decade and a promising young squad that can focus on competing instead of surviving. It costs about $40,000 a year to put a kid on the national ski team.
The dinner was sponsored by Congress Financial and GE Capital, with a big contingent from Bennett Jones LLP -- including former national team member turned legaleer, Perry Spitznagel. In the Q&A, Mr. Read revealed he skis on a pair of Salomon 176s and can still get a free drink at any bar in Kitzbuhel.
Tales of old money
and new funding
Profile raised: Edward Rogers (the junior one). The czar-in-training made his first presentation to the analyst community as co-chief of Rogers Cable at the big RBC Dominion Securities technology hoedown in Whistler, B.C. Viewers report decent reception.
Money raised: $50,000 by Women in Capital Markets. About 1,000 financial wonks (of both genders) squeezed into the Royal Ontario Museum this week for the annual Vinifera wine gala.
Money raised will fund WCM scholarships and outreach programs aimed at convincing young women there is more to Bay Street than cigar smoke and cheap ties. Honestly.
Janis Mackey Frayer is the host of The Close on Report on Business Television.
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