Police allege ‘Ponzi-type scheme’ thwarted thousands in Calgary

[Blue_Tires]

CALGARY — Who is M.B. Gonne?


On paper, he could be just another ordinary businessman with nondescript corporate dealings.


But police and federal tax investigators believe he’s a shadowy figure at the centre of an alleged financial hoax — an alter ego masterminded by a Chestermere, Alta., promoter to help bilk investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.


The RCMP allege that Milowe Brost was one of two major players behind a massive, nine-year “Ponzi-type scheme” that encouraged more than 3,000 people to pour their money into a string of little-known gold mining outfits and other firms. The 55-year-old was charged with fraud last week along with Gary Allen Sorenson, 66, of Calgary, believed to be living in Honduras.


Investors were promised dazzling annual returns by investing in a Brost-connected company called Strategic Metals. Police, however, believe at least $19 million of those funds was funnelled to other ventures by Brost using the fictitious name “M.B. Gonne.”

http://www.vancouversun.com/Police+allege+Ponzi+type+scheme+thwarted+thousands+Calgary/2014608/story.html