'All the stages of grief': Investors speak out about B.C. Ponzi nightmare

Being a headliner on the TV series Hustlers Gamblers Crooks was never a goal of Lana McKenzie's. 

Nevertheless, that's where the Courtenay, B.C., mom found herself last year, sharing a nightmare story of being conned out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by notorious B.C. Ponzi schemer Greg Martel. 

"It was important because I want to bring awareness to what can happen," McKenzie told CBC News. "You get to fly to L.A. and be in these production offices and [being on the show] was a fun experience. But I would have rather not had the loss."

McKenzie says she lost $330,000 to Martel's swindle. She agreed to appear on the Discovery Channel series on the condition she wouldn't have to speak his name. 

"He's an awful person and he does not deserve any glory in this situation," she said, becoming emotional. "It's been devastating for so many people — a crazy, awful, serious fraud that's happened here."

Between 2018 and 2023, Martel took in $301 million from investors and paid out $210 million, according to court-appointed receiver and bankruptcy trustee PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). They say he blew the remaining $91 million on options trading losses, other failing business ventures, and to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.

Whereabouts unknown

Martel disappeared in 2023 amid lawsuits brought by angry investors wanting their money back.

He was in Thailand for a time, then Dubai, but his current whereabouts are unknown although social media rumours surface now and again claiming he's been spotted in locations such as Israel or Mexico.

Authorities in Canada and the U.S. have issued warrants for his arrest related to contempt of court, but Martel has not been criminally charged. An investigation by the B.C. Securities Commission is ongoing.

Clawback time

Earlier this week, lawyers and investors lined up to make submissions to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick as bankruptcy proceedings for Martel and his bogus company, My Mortgage Auction Corp., move into the clawback phase. 

A total of 480 so-called "winner" investors and 81 "preferred" investors who profited from the scheme are being ordered to pay all gains minus their original investment into a bankruptcy pool.

Monies recovered will first go to compensating the accountants and lawyers working on the case, with remaining funds to be distributed between 1,229 investors who lost money, although they are likely to receive pennies on the dollar of their original investment. 

According to court documents listing the 561 investors facing clawbacks, two investors owe more than $2 million each, another 14 are on the hook for over $1 million each. The smallest amount on the list is $223.10.

Many of those facing clawbacks say they dispute PwC's calculations, including Quadra Island resident Damian Richards, who is cited as owing $22,375.52.

Richards says according to his financial records, he shouldn't have to pay more than $1,000 or $2,000 into the bankruptcy pool.

"PwC has gone through a whole lot of financial transactions and the accounting records of a company that was acting fraudulently right from the beginning. So I don't know how they can rely on these numbers," he said.

'Anger, resentment, denial'

Richards' history with Martel goes back to 2020 when he invested an inheritance on the advice of a financial planner. He said the planner didn't divulge at the time that her husband worked for Martel.

Making matters worse, he says, are the taxes he's paid on gains that were never realized, a situation many investors are grappling with thanks to the fraudulent tax slips Martel issued through the years. 

"We lost our nest egg," he said. "I've paid tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on money I never made." 

"It's been really tough to suffer a loss like that. It's all the stages of grief — anger, resentment, denial — everything."

Bankruptcy proceeding are set to continue next month in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.