The parking technology company accused of losing more than $7 million of its investor's money is speaking out against the allegations.
Photo Violation Technologies, or PVT, was hailed as a revolution in parking technology. It works by taking a picture of a parked vehicle as soon as the meter runs out.
But in October 2008, after four years without returns, shareholders took to protesting in front of its headquarters, saying PVT signed up non-accredited shareholders and that the company is broke.
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Fred Mitschele, PVT's CEO, told CTV's Peter Grainger they aren't going to shut down.
"We're never going to give up. We're going to keep it going," he said.
Since 2005, Photo Violation Technologies has been trying to test and market what could be the latest innovation in parking.
"We've been doing trials to see how they work," Mitschele said.
"Not necessarily to sell the units yet, but now we are moving into this next phase, where we will be selling the machines. And it does take time."
Martin Eady, a director with the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC), says it has responded to shareholder complaints by launching an investigation.
"When people are considering investing in a ground floor opportunity, they should remember it can be really risky," Eady said.
"We've cooperated with them fully," Mike Minor, PVT's director, said.
The company says most of the money has been spent on research and development.
"It's all part of building meters and getting them out there to test them," Minor said.
PVT says the machines have been tested successfully in various cities.
The firm removed meters in the city of Niagara Falls, New York, after the city didn't buy a single one at the end of a year-long test trial.
"First of all, the agreement came to an end," Minor said. "Until the end of September. Second of all, it's a small city and we decided I think that we'd be better off from a trial perspective to moving those meters to other cities".
PVT believes its growth is being stunted because of Raj Gurm. Gurm says his investment firm, Natco, lent PVT $1.5 million.
PVT says Gurm didn't live up to the agreement, so now both parties are fighting it out in court.
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After four years in business PVT filed its first audit. Over $7 million investment dollars are gone, with no detailed reporting.
"We weren't sure what had to be broken down," Minor said. "We relied on what was done for us."
CTV's Peter Grainger pointed out the operating costs of $5 million in the audit were not broken down as to where the dollars were spent.
"Well, as soon as we found out it was an issue, we immediately sent out a letter breaking that down for them," Mitschele said.
But that letter wasn't sent out for six months, the same day shareholders protested outside its offices on October 29, 2008.
Included is an unaudited financial breakdown, prepared by management.
Grainger asked if PVT understood that people may not trust their own auditing, given the background and atmosphere.
"Of course we can," Mitschele said.
"It was a breakdown that we [were] asked for and we did. If we have to go through another audit of the company it's expensive for the company to do it."
The company admits now it could be doing a better job by offering detailed financial statements more often.
"I think if we keep them better informed, not only does it help them, it helps us -- so we can work as a team," Minor said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger