Investigator couldn't determine what exactly happened to $211M raised by failed Saskatoon real estate group
CBC
A court-appointed investigator looking into the Epic Alliance group of companies says the public may never fully know what happened to the hundreds of millions raised by the failed Saskatoon real estate venture.
"Based on the unaudited books and records of EA Group, total funds raised from Investors amounted to approximately $211.9 million," wrote Peter Chisholm from Ernst and Young in the 58-page report.
"Due to incomplete books and records prior to 2019, the Inspector has been unable to reach conclusions regarding the use of Investor funds for that period of time."
On Feb. 25, 2022, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Allisen Rothery assigned Ernst and Young to look into the Epic Alliance affairs. Rothery unsealed the private report on Friday.
The report establishes that entrepreneurs Rochelle LaFlamme and Alisa Thompson created Epic Alliance in August 2013 and ran it until they told 121 investors in a video meeting on Jan. 19, 2022, that there was no money left.
"At the end of the operations of the EA Group, only nominal cash and other assets remained," Chisholm wrote.
The report details how the pair created an "eco-system" of inter-related companies that bought more that 700 homes, the bulk in Saskatoon's core neighbourhoods.
It raises questions about how the pair enticed investors into their scheme and how the company used fresh money to pay off existing obligations. It also questions how homes were appraised and mortgages were obtained.
Saskatoon lawyer Mike Russell represents the investors and made the application for the investigator.
"One important point here, a very concerning point, is there are no records available to the inspector before 2019," he said in an interview.
"So you've got, from 2013 to 2019, it's a complete black box. We have no idea what happened in that time period."
The analysis of how Epic operated focused on the period of 2019 to early 2022.
LaFlamme and Thompson created Epic Alliance in 2013. It soon evolved into a web of named and numbered companies, including Epic Alliance Real Estate, Epic Alliance Electrical, Epic Accounting and Bookkeeping, and Epic Holdings. It had 118 employees.
They created and ran three main ventures: a loan program based on promissory notes, a "Fund-A-Flip" program and a "Hassle Free Landlord Program."
Michael Vandell has been re-elected as chief of Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę First Nation in N.W.T., defeating former Dehcho MLA Ronald Bonnetrouge.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, accused of passing sensitive information to a foreign entity, was having conversations with a representative of Ukraine, CBC News has learned.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate an incident at the Dalhousie LRT station in which a Calgary police officer shot a man who was “acting erratically and carrying a knife.”
Around 40 people have been temporarily displaced after a building fire in O’Leary, in P.E.I.'s Prince County.
The price of the benchmark North American crude blend known as West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, slid to a four-year low on Tuesday, dipping to $55 US a barrel after starting the year off around $80.
The young man accused of being impaired and behind the wheel at the time he slammed into a Toronto family’s van, killing three children, has pleaded guilty in the case.
Gavin McKenna knew the haters would be ready to pounce.
Despite a deal to push government bills through their final stages before the House of Commons rose last Thursday, two pieces of priority budget and border legislation, C-4 and C-12, can't become law until at least February.
Skate Canada says it will no longer host major events in Alberta following a review of the province's legislation on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sport.
A surge of influenza among school-aged kids is linked to the recent deaths of multiple Ontario children, prompting calls for Canadian families to get vaccinated as medical experts brace for a worsening wave of infections across all age groups.
A London family doctor is not allowed to practice medicine for 10 months after being found guilty of professional misconduct.
Nearly three weeks after it started, the most complex fire in Toronto's history is finally out, but residents of two buildings in Thorncliffe Park still don't know if they'll be back home for the holidays.
The family of a man with schizophrenia charged with two counts of attempted murder is bracing for an aspect of the criminal justice system that is almost inevitable.