Hard Pill to Swallow

We innocently share life stories with our colleagues not knowing they are actually scouting you for commission they get for introducing you to brokers. I was almost at the tail end of my career, and after losing money in mutual funds, getting fixed interest for investments seemed like a good option. We were told the investments were safe and Fortress will never let their investors down. That they will pay back the money even if they incur loss.

 

I happily retired in 2016, with money invested in syndicated mortgages. Life seemed normal until the RCMP raid happened and it was published in the papers. BDMC no longer existed. FAAN took over the projects. Interest payments stopped. Olympia Trust continued to deduct charges. Life got disrupted. I had a lot of faith in our government & regulatory bodies as we have strict rules in the banking and financial industry.

 

To use an analogy, when we visit a community pool, it has all the equipment & people for rescue, ie floats, whistle, bands, lifeguard, etc. We have no fear of our kids drowning as they are in good hands. We carry the same comfort when it comes to the Canadian regulatory bodies. We believe they will protect us from fraudsters & not let them sell fraudulent products to retail investors. They should know the players well and have the industry knowledge. It was a hard pill to swallow when I realized my money invested was gone. All the locations are amazing. Properties are close to free-ways and upcoming communities. When the rest of the country is having a real estate boom, we are having challenges selling condo units. (This is so hard to believe.)

 

It was very depressing and shameful that someone can do this to you by gaining your trust. I’m hoping we find some justice and get compensated for the loss.

 

~Anonymous Investor

 

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Money Meant for our Future and Now it is All Gone

My wife and I were approached by our financial advisor about investing in a syndicated mortgage. He had been to a few Fortress presentations and thought that this would be a secure short term investment for us even though he knew we were not high risk investors. Our advisor made arrangements for FDS broker to come to our hometown and make a presentation at a local restaurant for a number of investors to attend.

 

Both the broker and our advisor repeated over and over how secure our money would be as it was guaranteed against the property and that our name would be on the deed. During the ILA the lawyer said the same thing. We have 4 children and we helped all of them pay for university (a total of 25 yrs of post secondary education between the 4 of them.) Just prior to me retiring we invested both of our TFSA's $100,000.00-- money that was meant for our future and now it is all gone.

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There is no way at this stage of our lives that we can ever hope to make it up. This has devastated us financially and emotionally. We feel that we have been robbed of our retirement plans after a lifetime of hard work and trying to do things the right way. My wife will not be able to retire and I will be returning to work.

~ M & S

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$96,000 investment in Crates Landing

We invested in Crates Landing, Old Market Lane, and Wellington house. We have invested $96.000.00 in total. Today we came to know the agent who signed us into these projects has given up his license. He is not answering any calls.

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It’s my husband’s RRSP investment. We were told 8 percent for a period of 2 years. We invested in 2016 with an added extension of one year. Now it’s past the time frame and we don’t see any release of funds. We didn’t know until now that Olympia was not taking care of the investment. 

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Is there any hope

Everything is at a standstill.

 

-Investor

 

What Happens When you Trust Your Financial Advisor?

What happens when you put your trust in your financial adviser? Well like me, you sit and listen to her tell you how they will make your money grow. You listen to her tell you how safe it is. She tells you, you have nothing to worry about because you are second in line to get your money back if anything goes wrong. She tells you it's safe; that is why you are allowed to invest your pension money. She tells you that you have a lawyer for free. But then the interest payments stop. You question should we do something. She tells you not to worry; your money is safe. Every few months you question her and she tells you the same thing every time. Your money is safe. After you get a letter saying it is going to be sold, you call up your advisor and she tells you that you are not second in line but you are further down the line and it doesn't look good and you might not get your money back. Well that is what happens when you trust an advisor. That is what happened to me. That's what happens when your advisor makes money selling fraud.

 

~ Mike L

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Unable to Retire & Had to Sell our Home

I met my mortgage broker through a former boss. I was intrigued by his proposal but I was just turning 65 and hoping to retire within 6 months.

 

I did what I thought was sufficient research into the project (Collier Place) and my broker assured me I would have my money back in 2 years. He told me that I would need $100,000 to invest so I used $62,000 RRSP money and borrowed $38,000 from the bank.  For the next 14 months the interest was appearing in my registered account at Olympic Trust. Then the builder declared bankruptcy and everything began to unravel.

 

The interest payments stopped but my broker continued to reassure me that once Fortress took over everything would be back on track. Meanwhile, I had to leave my office management job in Mississauga and take a minimum wage retail job closer to home as my husband had had a couple of strokes and was diagnosed with dementia. As the months went on I realized I couldn’t do all the upkeep on my own that a house requires plus it was becoming too expensive. So I had to sell the house that my husband had built and lived in for 54 years and we moved to a smaller community that was more cost effective.

 

I am now 72 and still working at a minimum wage job and expect I will be working for another couple of years.

 

~Bonnie E.
 

This Smells like a Ponzi Scheme

We are 77 years old.

 

Our financial advisor of 25 years, introduced us to this new type of government approved investment in the condo market. He explained everything about Fortress and the insurance we have with a mortgage on the property.

 

I questioned how they made money on this and why they needed our money at that interest rate. He said the sale of the building to foreign investors for 50 to 100 million profit covers the costs. We first bought 3 with Brad Lamb. These paid out in full so we bought 3 more; Jasper $30,000; 6th & 10th $30,000; and Sky City $25,500 TFSA. Now Brad Lamb is stalling on overdue accounts; Jasper, 6th & 10th, and Sky City. The photo of Fortress Group in the centre of the property and the statement tells all. Quote; "We have to rethink this project, it isn't going to work." It took 7-10 years to figure that out. Nothing was spent on the property and probably just readings for drawings. They sold the property to Li who is now the secured creditor--how do you sell a piece of property without discharging any mortgages on it? The investors would have to pay Li out before they get paid. Something is wrong with this picture.  We are anxious to learn what the RCMP discover in their investigation and hope they are brought to justice.

 

Brad Lamb and Fortress have multi-millions of our money and this smells like a Ponzi scheme. This is my own fault; I trusted someone else with my money; he knew what he was doing. Fortress paid him more than he ever made before to round us up like chickens to slaughter. Losing this money will be devastating. It was our retirement savings to look after us in our final years. Our government does NOT have this Ponzi scheme problem solved. Fortress employees and Brad Lamb have many millions of our money. There is hanky panky going on with the Sky City property….someone should spend their final days looking out windows with bars.

 

~Fred & Betty W.

 

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First Time Investor

I would like to share my experience of being a first time investor. I met the broker Igor Goloborodov through my friends. They did some insurances and investments with him and recommended him as a reliable person. He was advertising 8% safe interest for your investments in the Russian magazines and online, attracting potential investors.

 

When we met he explained in detail this type of investment and presented Fortress as one of the best companies in this market. In order to make my decision I asked a lot of questions including the risks, the warranties not to lose my principal (I agreed to risk not to get the interest.) I asked if it could be any kind of fraud, Ponzi scheme, and could it happen that I get the interest from my own money, etc. I was assured that it was super safe and nothing happens to my money since my name was secured on the land and the cost of the land is growing. He showed me the appraisal of the land, telling me to imagine how high this number will be after the project is completed. He said many times it wasn’t Russia--it was Canada and everything is by the law here. Everything seemed logical. Every offer was a rush--you have to decide faster because someone will invest before me. I asked who was the lawyer who was reading my agreement on the broker’s phone, does he represent me or the borrower? I was told that, of course, he represented me and my interests but the borrower pays for everything. After the first investment I started to get the updates and the interest. He offered more projects.

 

In January 2017 I stopped receiving the interests for all 4 projects at the same time. The maturity dates passed, the extensions according to the agreement have passed too. I asked for my principal back since I fulfilled all the requirements but I was told to wait because it wasn’t possible to get the money from the project. I said that it looks very strange that all my projects stopped at the same time and again I was reassured that it was just a coincidence with my particular projects. In 2017 I was contacted by a journalist regarding SkyCity. I informed the broker but he said that the journalists just spoiled everything and don’t know anything and that everything was great with the project. I started my own research and found out that the project and SM was in trouble! All documents said if you have any questions to contact your broker but he was hiding the real situation knowing that nothing could be done. From the beginning he hid the information that Fortress keeps 35% of the investor’s money and that the interest was paid from my own money. Since summer he wasn’t answering the phone so in September I found him working in one brokerage in Toronto.

 

He knew very well that I couldn’t risk the principal, he knew that I signed because I was promised to receive a regular interest--it wasn’t RRSP savings, he knew that I agreed because it was a short term investments with NO risks. The effect of this fraud caused a terrible financial loss to my family.

 

~KD

 

Preyed on the Weak & Innocent

I invested my entire retirement savings (RRSP) into this Fortress scam. I worked hard for that money, and nothing was ever given to me.

 

I had a financial advisor for approximately 15 years, so he had my trust. I was told to invest in this ‘high interest syndicated mortgage’ for just 2 years, it was a quick turnaround, high payout and then move my money into something else. I was also told that it was ‘guaranteed’, as I was on title. Never did I think that this ‘advice’ was motivated by greed and high commissions. Those commissions were never disclosed to me. Neither was the fact that the project already had significant liens on it. My advisor didn’t do a risk assessment on me and any assessments that were done in the past, I was always came out as medium risk. I was never in the high risk category. I was given ‘ILA’ by a lawyer on the phone (who I now know was working for Fortress). It was a well planned methodical scam, from beginning to end. My advisor and his accomplices were clearly trained by Fortress for this sales pitch. I was taken for a fool. They preyed on the weak and innocent.

 

It breaks my heart knowing now the others who have been roped into this scam were relying on this money to take care of themselves and loved ones who are too ill and have nothing else. Some invested everything they had and have nothing left. Some single mothers with young children have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. These predators don’t understand the damage they have done. They don’t understand the pain and suffering we have endured as a result of this scam.

 

I pray for justice for all the victims. God bless us all.

 

~Danny Rap
 

I Will Fight for My Family

My father was introduced to Frank Dragonetti through a mutual friend. He was coerced time after time to invest, attend free dinners, and seminars. At this time I was 19 years old, just started my first year of University. My mother had a savings account, that she put in my name, transferred the funds to me, so that I would be able to pay for school. At this I got a job and I was making enough money to pay for my own school. So from that point, my father suggested that we take half of the funds and invest it. What good is it sitting in the bank, right? We can make an 8% return, right? Guaranteed, right? The building is already up, right? BMO has occupied the building, that means its legit, right? Real estate is the safest place to invest, right? Right. Mr. Dragonetti, came into my home, sat at my kitchen table, saw this 19 year old kid, and allowed me sign $30,000.00 away, knowing I wouldn't see it ever again. That day, I invested in the Collier Barrie Project.

 

A couple months after, my father decided to invest. He invested his whole retirement/life savings. He invested $100,000.00 in the South Shore Project, and $110,000.00 in the Collier Barrie Project. We since then have gotten letter after letter, regarding an extension to the contract that we signed (which was only for 1 year), promising an additional 8%.

 

That was four years ago. Since then, my mother has fallen depressed, working over 60 hours a week on her feet just to TRY a make back what we've lost. My father is having a hard time letting go of his pride since he is now unable to provide for our family, and unable to plan for his future. For someone who was so close to retirement, so ready to enjoy what is left of life...this was not the way life should be for him, or for us. They argued over this frequently. The choice to invest with Fortress was putting a damper on their 25 year+ relationship. As time passed, it was getting harder and harder to pay our own mortgage, yet we gave our hard earned money to pay someone else's comfortable life.

 

My mother got into a car accident, now unable to put in 1 hour of work, let alone the 60 she used to do. Most recently, and I personally believe its as a result of stress, my father got diagnosed with cancer. Which in result leaves him unable to work. And so here I am. Left with tying to give my parents a second chance at life, trying to give them the opportunity to bounce back and enjoy what's left of life. All while I'm trying to set myself up for a percentage of success at this thing called life.

 

As its been nothing but hell. I have postponed my wedding, I have postponed buying my own house as i cannot afford paying two mortgages. I have to get a second job, one because I need more money and two because i keep taking days off to support my father and doctor appointments.

 

So if your thoughts are, "are you going to sue?". Yes. With every last breath, with every last penny I got. They all have to suffer. My family's investment ensures their families have roofs over their heads, food in their bellies, and clothes on their backs. They were ruthless enough to do this treacherous act to innocent, middle class people, then I will be a savage as well, and disregard everything they care for evenly. I will fight.

 

~V.
 

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This Was Not What Life was Supposed to Be

I invested with Fortress in 2014 in a project called Mississauga, to later be renamed Anchors 2. I invested $98,000.00 and I received interest payments for 2 years. This was to be a small and short project, done in 2 years with a possible extension for one more year.  It is now 2019, and the project is only a leveled site. Dunsire the developer pulled out because they claimed no money in the project. The site is under power of sale with 5 or 6 million owed on mortgages. I spent around 3 months looking at this and had several meetings with the broker Bob Bindher (who left Fortress and I can find no information about him.)

 

I was told the following by the broker; they only dealt with proven contractors, they never get involved until the project has all approvals done, the shovel is ready to go in ground, and if I wanted to be involved in this project I had to act quickly as they had almost reached the money needed for this project. I was told that there was risk but there’s risk in all investments, and that they only released money for the project as the value of the project increased--that way the project was always worth more than owed against. This is written into my contract. I was told that 100% of my money went to the project, that all fees were paid by the developer and that the broker’s fee was 4% paid for by developer, that they never missed an interest payment and that they never had a project fail, that they were replanning building to make it more profitable and by stopping interest payments it would in the end quicken the building process and we would all make more money.

 

I asked for my money back as I felt they broke the contract, and they responded with a no, and said all delays were covered in the contract and if I didn’t like it, to hire a lawyer.

 

The money I invested was part of a buyout I received from my employer and the interest was to offset my small pension. I am now 69 and must continue to work a minimum wage job to make ends meet and do not see a point where I can stop working. I am mentally and physically worn out. The principal was to be used for my granddaughter’s education and this sickens me the most that it will not be there for her. I have not had a holiday for years now and nothing in sight.

 

The small things in life are not available for me; a couple beers, round of golf, etc. At the end of each month I hope to find enough for an outing with my little buddy who is now 5. I do not share with my daughter and son as this is my problem not theirs. I’m better off than others; I do not go hungry or get cold but this was not what life was supposed to be!!! ~Ray Bean

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$100,000 Invested from our Home Equity

I first heard about Fortress from my financial advisor and a few friends; he introduced me to a mortgage agent under FMP. We did leveraging (borrowing) to invest in Fortress. We took $100,000 from our home equity. He said it was safe and our names are on the land title, and we can never go wrong with real estate investment.

 

We put in $82,000.00 in George project, visited the site and we decided, yes, Georgetown is booming, and the exit is only two years. Sutton Drive in Burlington is a good location, so we put in $30,000.00. Things went well with interest payments coming in but when it stopped coming, I was gut wrenched. Now we have to put in our own money for the loan that we got from the bank. I was hoping that it will be back to normal, and phoned this mortgage agent Darius. He said everything is fine, nothing is fishy. They will build a temple in Georgetown everything will be just be fine. Sutton in Burlington is going to take a little bit longer. We did thorough homework on this Burlington project, and consulted our own lawyer.

 

The next thing I know I’m reading an article in The Globe and Mail about Fortress being raided by the RCMP! More negative news in the newspaper about Fortress and the last one was when FAAN dropped the bomb on us that we. the secondary lender won’t have any money left after the Only bidder took over the Georgetown project for $7.4 Million and after all the fees are paid, nothing is left for us secondary lenders.

 

I cried and cried for days but my husband was very consoling saying it’s just money and what is important is health. Sleepless nights had been dominating my whole being, asking questions to myself such as what if’s, why, and blaming ourselves for being greedy of the 8% interest, we are such good people why this is happening to us! I am a prayerful person but this time my prayers had escalated tremendously. This is what keeps me going and my sanity intact. I can’t tell my family members, I am so embarrassed to open up because they might say we’re stupid.

 

My first thought was I hope we can form a group of investors that were victimized by Fortress, so here I am, one of the 28 investors that gathered thru the pioneering effort of Eric Mendoza, courtesy of Mr. Rebelo for allowing us to use the facilities of Oasis convention centre. I also informed my friend, because I know they have invested with Fortress as well.

Up to this date, my prayers are unceasing, keeping me and my husband strong emotionally. Losing $82,000.00 this way is very devastating. Having sleepless nights is an ongoing thing for me. My principle is I will not stop fighting for this cause, whatever it takes. I thank this group. They blessings. God will guide us through this journey.

 

~Zeny U

In Limbo- Fortress Should be Held Accountable

I currently have an investment with Fortress (administered by Sorrenti) and am in limbo.

I’m not sure what is happening with it and the outcome. From what I read, they have overextended all the financing on many projects which leaves no payout at the end.

 

The worst thing is that I referred my sister and some friends. Some friends invested on numerous projects. ( 150-200K +). I feel extremely bad and responsible.

 

Fortress should be held accountable and all the parties involved with this should be held personally responsible with assets seized as they had this attention of scamming people and taking a joyride on other people's money. Seize all their personal accounts and assets!

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Single Mom & No More Savings for My Sons

I first heard about Fortress syndicated mortgage investments through my mortgage broker, who introduced it to me as a way to make "passive income" while going through a devastating divorce. He knew I was in a vulnerable position and that this was all of my retirement and life savings, all of it. I invested $195,000.00. He also knew I was a single mother of two teenagers, and that I was not risk-neutral; that I wanted and needed a more secure style investment with less risk. He assured me that this was a safe investment and that his company had a history and track record of safe investments with no losses incurred by investors, something that he said was unique and rare in the industry.

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The impact of the losses on my family has been that I no longer have savings or college funds available for both my sons who are now about to enter college age, and I have to work three jobs to pay for our bills and expenses. It has been irrevocably devastating. My mental health has been severely impacted, and my kids worry for me and my ability to keep it together under the extreme stress of making ends meet. It seems Fortress has turned out to be a fraudulent Ponzi scheme that lured investors by paying us interest from our own principal! (not even from the project!) and also paying interest to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors, leading us to falsely believe that profits were coming from projects, when in fact it was just coming from other investor victims and our own principal. It’s a national crime, and shame on FSCO for betraying the retail consumers they are supposed to be protecting.

-Islena F.

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All the Money I had for Retirement

I was introduced to this investment by a "friend" who knew my situation, that I had inherited money from my aunt and needed it to give me a certain amount of spending money and to keep my principal safe as I was 66 years old, and that was all the money I had for retirement. I was assured this investment was totally safe, Fortress had never missed an interest payment and had always exited in a timely fashion. I was told that they could extend the exit once for 6 months. I was never informed that 35% of my money would be taken out of my investment or that my so-called interest payments was coming from my investment. I was assured again and again by my agent that this was a safe investment - even in 2018. I did receive my interest for approx 1-1/2 years then 3 or 4 weeks after investing in Alberta, interest payments for all projects stopped immediately. I was left without any income, aside from a small CPP.

 

My partner ended up paying all the bills for the last 4 years (I was supposed to pay 1/2) and we will possibly lose our condo. I was advised by my agent that it made more sense not to pay for condo outright, as the interest on our condo was only 2-1/2% whereas I was getting 8% interest, so was making money. This year my partner has discovered he has cancer and because of this situation has had to keep working through his chemo treatments. As well, my agent continually made remarks against my partner as he refused to invest in this and our relationship has deteriorated because I did. Up until Christmas of 2017 the agent who I kept in touch with looking for some assurance kept insisting that everything was find when he had to have known how bad things really were. We are taking 5 projects with $345,000 that I have invested.

 

-Margaret

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Pins & Needles

I am a recently divorced lady who escaped a bad marriage after my former husband foolishly gambled away my inheritance. With my limited remaining resources namely my TFSA I needed up investing in one Fortress project. I heard of this Syndicated Mortgage investment listening to AM 640 in my way home from work. The speaker (aka advertiser) was a real estate agent, I felt was trustworthy named Lou Berkowitz and he spelled out the high returns and safety of this investment. . I signed up for a presentation and was sold on investing, and did not heed the warnings on the lack of liquidity or possible risks which were downplayed as rare. FDS promoted all the successful exits that gave clients their interest and I put my 40k TFSA in a Brad Lamb project called The James. My original intent was to only risk 20k but the FDS team offered me a rebate of half the Olympia Trust Fees if I increased my investment. So here I am, turns out Brad Lamb is trying to buy us out at a discount with no interest even though the James has been rebranded the Woodsworth and is selling for far more psf that originally.

 

Awaiting if FAAN will take it. I am totally frustrated and on pins and needles. I don’t believe for a second this project will lose Brad Lamb a dime, he is just leveraging the negative publicity and fear to scare us to settle for a fraction of our investment.

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Barbara

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Lack of Oversight

We invested in Fortress both with RRSP (as we learn now it is not eligible) and a line of credit, totaling $135,000. Now, after 8 years these funds need to be repaid, with interest to the bank who gave us the Line Of Credit. Not only was the 'guaranteed 8%' not guaranteed at all, we are also faced with Olympia's threats to collect on an account that we were forced into transferring into. Yet there is no one responsible. Everyone took their money and left. And because this issue is too complicated, there is was no interest in the government to undo its lack of oversight. It was easier to turn a blind eye even though these parties, and several individuals were known to the government.

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Kathy S

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Money Invested Was for my Retirement -I Have my House for Sale 

I invested in 4 projects for a total of $185,000 thinking these were safe investments. When filling out my investment profile I indicated I was a low to moderate risk investor however my agent changed it to high risk investor but assured me these were secure projects. The money invested was for my retirement and I was looking for a higher rate of interest other than the bank could provide. I now have my house up for sale because I can no longer afford to maintain it, plus having trouble selling in this tough market. I am in a very difficult position and getting sick thinking about how I was robbed out of my hard earned money.

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Mary D

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East Coast Investment goes South

In June 2014, I met Glenn May Anderson, the president of FDS Broker Services, when I applied for a job as an agent in Nova Scotia. Fortress was looking to enter the East Coast Market and becoming an agent was easier than in other provinces (You do not have to pass a test, only pay the fee). After getting hired on, he asked me if I had any money I wanted to invest. I said that I had over $50,000 in my current pension in a Brad Lamb Development in Edmonton called North. At this point Mr Anderson began to laud how secure my investment would be. He explained that a syndicate mortgage was a mortgage and was therefore fully protected. He said that Fortress was always going to be second in title. No investor had ever walked away without their original investment plus their promised interest. This was echoed to me by Tasha Sutherland, the person who I was to be trained by. Furthermore, Mr Anderson told me that although Fortress was second in title, "no self-respecting judge ANYWHERE" would allow a property to be sold Power of Sale without the original investors being properly compensated. Mr Anderson and Miss Sutherland echoed this to potential investors at individual and group meetings I organized for them in Halifax.

 

It was at this point I invested my $50,000 as I really thought they were telling the truth (please note that I made no sales to any investors as the group literally ghosted me) After a while, I began to notice that I was not getting any interest payments I was promised. I contacted FDS and Fortress but no one called me back. I would send emails and leave phone messages. Nothing. I then called and gave a false name, saying I had money that I wanted to invest. I got a call back that day on the number I gave. I was told by Miss Sutherland that they would transfer my investment into another property. I was happy with this as I thought I may get something back. However, I was then told this would not be happening. I received nothing. When I asked for at least some sort of update, I was met with terse emails, some being three to four words. Eventually Miss Sutherland's email address was not working as she left the company. Mr Anderson had his license revoked. And I have nothing.

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GM

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Promises, Promises

I heard about Fortress by the broker, Baytree Real Capital whose name is Ted Jin. I and my wife invested $40,500 EACH by TFSA in Collier Center Project on Dec 21st, 2015. At the time, Ted Jin in Bay Tree promised 8% interest per year and principal will be returned in one or two years, but I got only one time of 8% interest prepaid. We lost a total of $81000 of principal that is for our retirement. During the time Olympia Trust charged account fee for monthly and yearly. They were also my loss.

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dws

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I Don't Expect to Ever See a Dime

I live in Halifax was approached by my insurance agent, who was also a friend, to meet his friend and be introduced to an investment opportunity with a "guaranteed" 8% return. Like so many I fell for the "guarantee" and invested $130,000 in RRSP funds in two different Fortress mortgages. For two years all went well and then the payments stopped and the excuses started. After reading the legal documents, which of course no one gives you the time to do on the day of signing, I realized that basically I was up the proverbial creek knowing that my 2nd mortgage could easily be moved to a 3rd, 4th or 5th, meaning the chance of seeing my principal back was basically nil. I was/am angry at my "friend" for introducing me to his friend who sold me on these investments.

 

Truth be told I don't expect to ever see a dime as the little people never do unfortunately. What makes matters worse is that I also invested an additional $300,000,000 in other "guaranteed" investments with the same person who introduced me to Fortress and you can guess what has happened to most of that money....regular payments ceased and the stories began. Fortress is just the tip of the iceberg with the investments scams that exist in this country and I'm experiencing the 90% or underbelly of the iceberg you never see. I struggle with being so naive to have trusted someone I barely knew and have become less trusting of others as a result. Those involved in this major league scam will one day pay the price, be in this life or the next.

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CY

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Not Getting the Money They Owe Me

I invested $45,ooo.oo with Fortress Real Capital .,signed April 23/2012. The project was for Port Place luxury waterfront in St Catherines, guaranteeing me 8% interest on my money. The project did not go through, so now I am not getting the money they owe me

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LB

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Baytree Capital- "Low Risk, 8% Guaranteed Return"

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I heard this Fortress investment through the investment broker Taehoon Jin works at Baytree Capital. He did a presentation about this investment and said it has low risk with 8% guaranteed return in a year or two. It seems attractive so my wife and I invested $81,000 in total from our TFSA. This is a part of my retirement fund, and it impacts my current retirement financial plan. Also, my wife and I are experiencing high stress because of this loss.

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DWS

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We don’t Deserve to live our Last Days this Way

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For months we listened to Victor Ferreira the broker on the Portuguese Multicultural CIRV radio about 8% interest, risk free syndicated mortgages..so we invested a total of $260.000.00 in 3 separate projects, back in September 2015 when we sold our home in Oakville, and we were ready for early retirement, because my husband had a heart attack and eventually a heart surgery, triple by pass, and we decided to move up north where we own a cottage, and so we thought that the interest alone was enough to live on for a while until we get our principal money back, ...Well not so, after a few months the interest stoped coming, and when I reached out to them the broker and his posy had no answers for us, .. We even went down to Sorrenti Law office in Vaughn a few times because they didn’t answer the phone or respond to emails, to have him tell us that after paying the senior partners, there is no money left to pay us.. this was so devastating news to hear, we never thought this would happen, we feel betrayed and dare to say violated, and robbed of our retirement, got ourselves in debt, hoping to pay back when we received our money, and now it is not going to happen anytime soon... We live with so much stress and failing health issues,.... we don’t deserve to live our last days this way, after contributing a lifetime to taxes and the economy of this country and in the end no one helps us. I hope there is a light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

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A&JG

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We Lost all our life Savings 

We are just average working people. We have tried to do the right thing and have been saving and investing what we could for 25+ years. We have always tried to be cautious and weren't intereted in high risk gains or risky ventures. Then our financial advisor Sandra Erb at Erb Financial who we also considered a family friend introduced us to syndicate mortgage investing through several presentations she held for all her clients.

 

At first we did not invest, but with every visit she keep insisting how safe it was and telling us about how much money she and her other clients were making. Each time we reminded her we are not risky investors, we cannot put ourselves in a position where we could lose our principal. Each time she reassured us it was safe, guaranteed 8% interest paid, only highly reputable, completely vetted projects and developers were used, ensuring principals were never at risk. She eventually talked us into trying a short term syndicate term of 1-2 years to ease our concern.

 

Since it was early on, we received our monthly dividends as promised and when the mortgage term ended we received our principal and the promised 8% interest. She then advised us if we were to reinvest in another project the buy in would stay at the lower minimum limit of $25K. So we trusted her and did. Slowly over the next year she convinced us to invest all our savings in longer term syndicate (3-5 yr) mortgage projects ($165K total). After a year or two in these syndicate mortgage projects started to encounter various delays and problems and none ever completed. Each time we raised concerns she told us not to worry our money was safe, Fortress was taking them over and we had nothing to worry about. Well, we have lost all of our entire savings. It is not just the money (though that is devasting in itself), it is the breach of trust, the embarrassment of being victimized and the stress of losing the security of our savings, all to line the pockets of these greedy, unapologetic, unethical and morally bankrupt individuals.

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Michelle K

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