Sarah Sterns has spent the better part of the last four years chasing the money she invested with a Montreal investment firm called Castle Rock, which used to have their office on Alexis Nihon Boulevard in the St-Laurent borough of Montreal.
It was money she thought she could trust in the hands of her financial adviser, David Glazer, a man recommended to her by a friend.
“He knew from conversations we had exactly what I sacrificed, what I’d been through, what my anxieties were, about my retirement and my ability to support myself,” said Sterns, who was planning for semi-retirement at the time she made the investments.
Quebec’s financial securities watchdog, Autorité des marchés financiers, suspended Glazer’s investment licence after an employee flagged irregularities.
He was selling mutual funds and acted as a representative for Great-West Life and Quadrus Investments.
Both companies immediately severed their ties with Glazer. A lengthy investigation concluded the 53-year-old was spending his clients’ funds on personal expenses, rather than investing it.
Back then, Glazer occasionally commented in the media on investment strategies.
“Most of my savings was gone," said Sterns, still in disbelief four years later.
When the AMF stepped in, it was able to block Glazer’s multiple bank accounts, allowing Sterns and others to recuperate a portion of their money.
But Sterns wasn’t satisfied and wanted Glazer to face criminal fraud charges. It wasn’t easy at first to convince investigators to move forward, as financial crimes are often hard to establish in front of a tribunal.
“When I first reported the crime, I was told, ‘You know, did you get your money back?’ To which I’d reply, ‘Would it not have made it a crime?’”
Luckily for Sterns, a Montreal police investigator decided to look into it. Glazer was charged with fraud and pleaded guilty last year.
He was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars on Monday — a bittersweet victory for Sterns. The financial hit and court costs forced her to delay her retirement and resume work.
Economic crimes, she says, are not victimless.
“It’s difficult because it makes you feel trusting people is wrong, being vulnerable is wrong. That’s not true,” she said.
In response to questions from CTV News, AMF spokesperson Sylvain Theberge said most of the money was recuperated, either through out-of-court settlements or through the distribution of assets that were seized, including Glazer’s house and luxury car.
The AMF, Theberge explained, was granted much more power from the government following a scandal involving an investment firm called Norboug, founded by Vincent Lacroix.
Investors lost $200 million and he was sentenced to 13 years in jail.
“The public is much better protected today than during the Norboug days,” Theberge told CTV. “It’s night and day.”
The AMF, he added, now has the power to freeze assets and it has increased the number of regulators by 200 per cent.
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