Looks like Madoff, Sanford and Dreier have new company in missing Canadian financial adviser
Bertram Earl Jones. More clients claiming to have been
bilked by Jones surfaced this week, adding to the chorus of accusations that the unregistered adviser allegedly ran a C$30 million to C$50 million ($27 million to $45 million) Ponzi scheme. Jones reportedly had about 50 clients in North America.
The Autorite Des Marches Financiers, the Montreal-based securities regulator for Quebec, said last Friday that it was freezing Jones' bank accounts following complaints from clients. By the time it intervened, however, the accounts were nearly empty.
"This has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme," said Sylvain Theberge, a spokeswoman for the Autorite.
Jones built his business through word of mouth and mostly managed estates.
The news comes two days after Bernard L. Madoff
began his 150-year sentence in a North Carolina medium-security prison. Jones and his wife disappeared last week, and there is speculation he might have left the country. But since no arrest orders have been issued for him, his former clients are left to fume that he's out jet-setting with their money. -
Sara Behunek
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