A B.C. man is suing an alleged scammer and alleged recipients of money who he claims took part in an investment scam that cost him $450,000.
Darren Garbutt, a 57-year-old retired former postal worker, claimed in his May 14 notice of civil claim filed in BC Supreme Court that he was scammed out of money that he acquired from the sale of family property related to a divorce settlement.
He is suing Great West Global Ltd., Muhammed Omer Yilmaz and an unknown person he calls John Doe. None of the allegations has been tested in court.
Garbutt has what he said is a "limited understanding of technology," but he went online in December to search for various financial institutions' interest rates for guaranteed income certificates (GICs). He found what he thought was an advertisement from Oaken Financial and followed links, eventually providing personal information, he alleged.
Someone then allegedly contacted him and claimed to be James Daniels, a representative of Oaken Financial. Daniels, also known as the defendant John Doe, then allegedly offered Garbutt a rate of 5.85 per cent if he invested $450,000 for a four-month term. The lawsuit does not mention whether any claim was made that the money could be reinvested every four months at that rate. Money invested at that interest rate and reinvested every four months would be earning interest at a compounded 18.5967-per-cent annual rate.
John Doe then used what Garbutt said was the email address [email protected], and his emails had a signature that appeared to imitate Oaken Financial branding.
John Doe then allegedly persuaded Garbutt through emails and phone calls to wire $450,000 to a Bank of Montreal account in Ontario, numbered 1974878, which Garbutt claimed is controlled by Great West Global Ltd.
"At this point, Mr. Garbutt completely believed he was investing in a GIC with Oaken Financial," his lawsuit said.
"To maintain the fraud, the defendant John Doe provided Mr. Garbutt with a confirmation letter bearing the Oaken Financial logo and account number. Additionally, John Doe provided a link to a portal that appeared to show and track the investment's growth."
Garbutt said he accessed that portal in the following days, and it functioned properly.
When he tried to access the portal in January the link did not work, he said. He tried emailing and phoning the man who said he was James Daniels but did not get any responses, he claimed.
It was not until February that he was able to be in touch with the legitimate Oaken Financial, which informed him that he did not have a GIC plan at that institution, according to the lawsuit. Garbutt said he then reported the fraud and loss of funds to the Abbotsford Police Department.
Garbutt claimed that Great West Global and Yilmaz both controlled the BMO account to which he transferred money. Yilmaz, Garbutt claims, is the sole director of Great West Global.
Neither Great West Global nor Yilmaz had filed a response to the notice of civil claim by press time. BIV last week phoned Great West Global to get a response and the man who answered the phone said Yilmaz now lives outside Canada. BIV sent an email for him to forward to Yilmaz but did not hear back by press time.
