anyone care to speculate about the current status of the mortgages that may have been written with this guy?
...Mr. Thow fled to the United States in 2005 and now reportedly lives in Seattle and works as a mortgage broker....
BCSC finds Thow perpetrated ‘one of the worst fraud's' in B.C. history
JANET McFARLAND
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Globe and Mail Update — Former mutual fund salesman Ian Thow is guilty of perpetrating one of the worst frauds in British Columbia's history, a B.C. Securities Commission panel has ruled.
“This case represents one of the most callous and audacious frauds this province has seen,” the panel said in a ruling released Wednesday. “Thow preyed on his clients by offering them non-existent securities and instead using the funds to support his lavish lifestyle. He took their money and betrayed their trust. He has left a trail of financial devastation and heartbreak.”
Mr. Thow, who was a senior vice-president at Berkshire Investment Group Inc. in Victoria, was accused of taking approximately $30-million from clients between January, 2003, and May, 2005. He convinced them to invest primarily in construction loans and shares of a Jamaican bank, advising them to sell their mutual funds, mortgage their homes and take out bank loans to raise the money.
The BCSC found that neither the construction loans nor the shares existed, and the clients lost most or all of their money.
Mr. Thow did not attend the BCSC hearing and was not represented by counsel.
The BCSC said Mr. Thow, 46, used most of the money he raised to buy personal items, including a $1.5-million Sea Ray yacht and a fleet of aircraft, including a helicopter and two personal jets. He lived in a $4.6-million mansion in Victoria and drove a fleet of cars, including a Hummer, a Porsche Boxster, two Mercedes-Benzes and a Cadillac.
Mr. Thow fled to the United States in 2005 and now reportedly lives in Seattle and works as a mortgage broker....
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