Close to 1,000 investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars in what may be one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in Canada. Some who lost their life savings investing say their attempts to blow the whistle on Greg Martel’s alleged wheeling and dealings with crown agencies fell on deaf ears. “I did make a couple calls to the BCFSA (BC Financial Services Authority), the regulatory watchdog, and I was disappointed with their kind of lack of care.
They kind of pawned me off, and they didn’t follow up with me,” said realtor Rick Horsland, who claims he sent in complaints to the BC Security Commission (BCSC). Possibly the biggest Ponzi scheme in B.C.
Financial investigators say Martel built a business on promises he didn’t intend to keep. “You will 100 per cent get your money back,” Martel told CHEK News in May 2023. PricewaterhouseCoopers calls it “a massive Ponzi scheme.
” Martel promised huge dividends on bridge loans, only to not invest the money but spend it. Martel took a minimum of $317 million from 930 investors. If true, it would be the biggest Ponzi scheme in British Columbia and one of the largest in Canada.
Story continues below In 2017, two Alberta men were found guilty of fraud and theft after bilking investors out of a combined total of between $100 million and $400 million. At the time, the RCMP characterized the crime as the largest Ponzi scheme in Canadian history. Financial crime expert Christian Leuprecht says it’s time for a solution at a nation.
