Real estate developers charged with fraud in $33M project

The accused held high positions in the company responsible for a Crowsnest Pass development project at the time of the alleged offences, investigators said

Under allegations of swindling 864 investors of over $33 million in a Crowsnest Pass resort development project, two Calgary-based real estate developers have been charged with committing fraud and theft.
 
As reported by CBC News, William Lloyd Bradley (68) and Colin Joseph Becker (49) have been charged under allegations of misusing investors’ money between 2006 and 2007. The duo held high positions in Bridgecreek Development Corporation, the company responsible for the Crowsnest Pass project, at the time of the purported offences.
 
Bradley and Becker are slated to first appear in a Calgary court on August 11.
 
The case, which involved approximately 25 to 30 other corporate entities beneath Bridgecreek, has been described as one of the largest investment scams in recent memory.
 
“They raised a significant amount of money. They were proposing to raise $100 million to develop the first portion of the lake project initiative, however it appeared that they fell short of this object. They raised only $33 million and change,” according to Calgary RCMP Sgt. Sylvain Roussel, who was the case’s lead investigator.”
 
“Shortly after raising that money, some of the funds were allegedly diverted to other corporations under the Bridgecreek corporation to sustain other entities that were related to these accused,” Roussel explained.
 
One of the petitioners in a class-action lawsuit lost $20,000 to the fraud scheme.
 
“I'm sad for the investors. They're almost all Albertans and the vast population of them are seniors,” Anne Moman said, adding that some of the participants might have suffered as much as $1 million in damages.
 
“Some have lost their houses, their retirement savings on this. To them this is such a severe impact that they were financially devastated,” Moman added.

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