![Man charged in alleged $7.8M Ponzi scheme drowns in B.C. before Edmonton fraud trial](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6960818.1694194593!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/kathleen-treadgold-and-curtis-quigley.jpg)
Man charged in alleged $7.8M Ponzi scheme drowns in B.C. before Edmonton fraud trial
CBC
A man accused of operating an alleged Ponzi scheme has drowned in a B.C. river, seven months before his criminal fraud trial was set to start in Edmonton.
Curtis Quigley, 56, and his former common-law spouse Kathleen Treadgold, were jointly charged last summer with 80 counts of fraud over $5,000.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) alleged that the $7.8-million scheme was ongoing for 12 years, with hundreds of victims in Alberta, B.C., the U.S. and Australia.
The allegations against Quigley and Treadgold have not been proven in court.
The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating Quigley's death, a spokesperson told CBC News. He drowned on June 20 in the Okanagan River near Okanagan Falls, a community about 60 kilometres south of Kelowna.
The Okanagan Falls Volunteer Fire Department responded to the rescue call, but Tony Iannella, chief of the nearby Willowbrook Volunteer Fire Department, said he also showed up to help.
Iannella told CBC News that two witnesses at the scene said the man was walking two dogs along a trail by the river, just south of Skaha Lake, when the dogs saw a deer and jumped into the water to chase it.
It happened near an area where there's a concrete drop structure, similar to a dam. The witnesses said the dogs got caught in it and the man went in after them.
Iannella said that by the time he arrived, one of the witnesses had already pulled the man out of the water and Okanagan Falls firefighters were performing CPR. Iannella said he helped them continue until paramedics arrived and said the man couldn't be revived.
Quigley had been out on bail after turning himself in to Edmonton police in August 2023.
When a person facing criminal proceedings dies, the charges against them are stayed, meaning the prosecution is discontinued.
Alberta Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson Michelle Davio said the prosecutor in the fraud case is still waiting to see a death certificate, so a stay has yet to be issued.
"In the cases of deceased individuals, ACPS will stay charges once death verification is complete," Davio said in a statement. "As we are awaiting appropriate confirmation that the accused is deceased, the charges remain active."
Treadgold's charges are also still active, according to the Crown prosecution service. It's unclear what impact Quigley's death might have on the case against her, as a co-accused.