Earl Jones arrested in Montreal for Fraud

A Canadian financier who investors say swindled them out of as much as $50 million in a so-called Ponzi scheme has turned himself in to police and will appear in a Montreal court on Tuesday.

Bertram Earl Jones, who found his mostly elderly and retired clients through word of mouth, is accused of running a scheme similar to the one that landed U.S. fraudster Bernard Madoff in jail for life. He turned himself into Quebec provincial police on Monday.

“He presented himself to police this afternoon, accompanied by his lawyer,” police in the French-speaking Canadian province said in a statement on Monday.

Most of the investors who say they were conned by Earl Jones were from the French-speaking province of Quebec, but there were others from elsewhere in Canada and the United States, Quebec’s securities regulator – Autorite Des Marches Financiers – said last month.

The alleged scam was discovered after investors went to authorities to complain checks issued by Earl Jones were bouncing, and the financier was not answering his phone.

Earl Jones disgust me. So many people saved all of their money for retirement and this guy has the guts to steal from them. Very sad…