A Victoria, B.C. mutual-fund salesman has been charged with more than two dozen counts of fraud in an investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and police forces in B.C.
Former Victoria resident Ian Thow was charged with 25 counts of fraud over $5,000 in early June after an international investigation spanning nearly three years.
Police say Thow's actions cost investors more than $10 million, and the victims are from different parts of Canada and the U.S.
Thow allegedly convinced investors to write him personal cheques for investments which were never made.
The investigation was sparked by a complaint from the Berkshire Investment Group, where Thow was a licensed mutual fund dealer who managed the Berkshire office in Victoria between January 2003 and June 2005.
The Vancouver Integrated Market Enforcement Team, part of a federal agency that aims to protect capital markets, is working with the Victoria Police Department and the FBI to find Thow, who is believed to have fled Canada in 2005.
