An Edmonton man is facing charges after allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme valued at $5.5 million for nearly a decade.
Between January 2009 and June 2017, the suspect worked under the company name “Wakina Consulting Inc.” and allegedly facilitated 257 fraudulent bridge mortgage loans using publicly available documentation from real homeowners.
Police said the homeowners were unaware of the scam and were taking out bridge mortgage loans while selling their current home and purchasing a new home.
Investors were allegedly promised administration fees and monthly interest on their investment.
One of the investors sounded the alarm to EPS after reportedly not receiving the funds and began looking into the contract, and discovered fraudulent documents.
The EPS Fraud Investigations Unit spent two years investigating the claims and have now charged Timothy (Tim) Ray Carruthers, 59, with 22 counts of fraud over $5,000.
“Typically, people who are capable of committing frauds at this level understand the business, so it makes them very believable,” Det. Linda Herczeg said in a press release. “When you’re investing with someone, you want to make sure that they are properly licensed to be selling the products they are presenting.”
EPS advises people to check credentials, read the fine print, verify the documentation and ask questions.
“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”
Police believe Carruthers may have scammed others and are releasing his photo to encourage them to come forward.
They’re asked to contact EPS at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
