Calgary Jury finds pair guilty following Ponzi scheme trial

In what authorities are describing as the largest Ponzi scheme in Canadian history, a Calgary jury has found two men guilty of taking funds from new investors and using them to pay old ones.

Gary Allen Sorenson, 71, and Milowe Allen Brost, 61, were found guilty on two counts each of theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.

Brost was also found guilty of Laundering Proceeds of Crime.

A four year investigation led to charges against the pair in September 2009. The Calgary RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) charged Sorenson and Brost with diverting money from thousands of investors in a Ponzi-type scheme that raised in excess of $100 Million from investors in Canada, the United States and internationally.

Police say the two created a business, Syndicated Gold Depository S.A. (SGD) and based it on a popular commodity, gold, before forming another agreement to loan money to Merendon Mining Corporation Ltd. for the promise of a high rate of return.

“Thousands of people have been affected by the unlawful actions of two individuals, and in some cases, unsuspecting investors have had their lives and financial futures completely destroyed,” Inspector Darcy Fleury said in a release.

The Officer in Charge of the Southern Alberta’s RCMP Financial Integrity Team continued, “This is life-changing for some of the victims of these crimes. We hope through awareness, prevention, investigation and disruption, the Financial Integrity Team can help reduce the number of people whose financial futures are put in serious jeopardy by falling victim to these schemes.”

Agencies/Canadajournal