Mining shysters steal millions from investors
The road to Tulameen has led many prospectors down its alluring path over the years. Two Calgary men have been charged with convincing hopeful investors into sinking their money into the Stone Mountain Mine above Tulameen whose gold is as mythical as the missing pail of platinum buried near there long ago by a prospector.
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What does the lure of gold, fraud, mythical tales of lost riches, the stock market, the Honduras, off-shore banking and two Calgary shysters have to do with Tulameen, B.C.? This is a question that investigators in Calgary have been looking for answers to since 1998. A mine simply referred to as Stone Mountain Mine has become just one piece in a huge complicated puzzle of lies and deceit that have cost thousands of investors to lose somewhere between 100 and 400 million dollars in what some are calling the biggest scam in Canadian stock market history.
Sixty-six year old, Gary Sorenson, and 55 year old Marlowe Brost of Calgary have both been arrested for scamming investors out of their hard-earned money with promises of lucrative returns that never transpired. Brost was arrested in Calgary in early September and Sorenson was taken into custody some 20 days later upon return from his home in the Honduras where investigators believe hundreds of millions of investor dollars have been deposited into Honduras bank accounts through a series of intricate off-shore transfers.
Brost and Sorenson are believed to have fooled investors from the U.S. and Canada, as well as, overseas into sinking money into shell companies such as Merendon Mining Corp., Asset Trax Inc., Quatro Communications Corp., Rapid Express Corp.,and Strategic Metals Corp.. One company, Stone Mountain Mine, was used to soak investors for millions on a lucrative gold mine in Tulameen. B.C. that didn’t exist. This was the report made public in the Sunday, September 27, 2009 issue of the Calgary Herald.
The trip up to the supposed mining site reveals a Quonset shop that has been destroyed by heavy snow and an old abandoned mobile home. The trailer has become a home for rodents while the shed is a complete write-off. This is not exactly the beginning of a prosperous mining operation little alone one that has reportedly, 2.5 million ounces of quality gold proven and awaiting mining on its site.
Princeton has been a community known for gold and the odd bits of platinum in its two rivers the Tulameen and Similkameen for decades. A gold rush caused the quick development of Granite Creek and was the purpose of much of the early construction in town and the surrounding area. To this day many a gold panner can swirl through the rich soil along the water’s edge and find flecks of gold sparkling brilliantly along the bottom. Sprinkled amongst the black sand, the gold shines with an allure not so damaging as the promise of stock market profits. Profit promises to deepen the pockets of even the most cautious of investors took investors away from their safety blankets of reason and left them standing out in the streets naked. Some investors have lost their homes, others their life savings and one investor their life after the realization of financial devastation proved too much for them to bear and they committed suicide. Investigators are still asking for investors to come forward and call 1-403-292-8827 to report their individual investment scenario.
Brost and Sorenson have been charged with theft and fraud and face up to a maximum of 14 years in jail. Brost and Sorenson had already been charged with other illegal activities by the Alberta Securities Commission back in 1998. Obviously the previous convictions and fines did little to deter the two from their path of greed at the expense of the innocent. Fraud, lying to investors, and trading in securities while not being registered with the commission was to become a continued habit.
“The alleged mining operations of Stone Mountain in Tulameen are a scam,” said Michael Quilling the inspector in receivership. Full production of the Stone Mountain Mine supposedly, started in 2004 after 2 years of set-up from 2001-2003 and 3 years of in-depth exploration from 1997 to 2000 before that. RCMP investigators were sent a letter from the Alberta Securities Commission in 2005 and begin investigating Stone Mountain Mine. Mining officials said the mine site was ”not at that time in production, nor set-up for full production, nor even a mine site in 2004.”
Investors wait. Brost and Sorenson are scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Dec. 14. Charges of fraud and theft will greet the two. Investors have started a class action suit against the duo with low expectations of ever recovering their money. Both Sorenson and Brost have homes in the Honduras while some of the investors have been forced to sell theirs to keep their heads above water. Either way the court battle ends, justice will be bittersweet for the Canadians who invested millions into a gold mine that was more mythical than many of the tales told in a community that really does have a history in gold.
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