German immigrants afraid after Cape Breton man handed extortion, weapons charges
CBC
A German couple who recently immigrated to Cape Breton say they are afraid for themselves and their young son after a complaint to RCMP resulted in extortion and weapons charges against the man who helped them move to Canada.
However, Sandra Schmid and Dirk Westerhoff also say they are not about to be driven away from their new home near Cape George, N.S.
"I'm happy to be here in Canada because the Canadian, for me, is to live free and tolerant," Schmid said in an interview outside her home in rural Richmond County, north of St. Peter's.
"I don't want to live in fear here, and I don't come to Canada to get trouble with a German. I have so many Canadian friends and they are all so friendly. They say, 'Hello' and 'Welcome,' and so I'm here and I have trouble with a German guy."
Frank Eckhardt of Grand River, a small rural community east of St. Peter's, is charged with one count of extortion and 13 weapons offences, including unsafe storage and transportation of firearms and possessing unlicensed handguns.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
Eckhardt did not respond to emails or phone calls from CBC News seeking comment.
Eckhardt is a controversial property seller who has been in the news for offering to help Europeans settle in Cape Breton, selling them overpriced land and offering advice to "new settlers," and in at least one case, sending out Second-World-War-era Nazi propaganda. Eckhardt, a German immigrant, has lived in Cape Breton for about two decades.
Schmid and Westerhoff said they bought land from Eckhardt a little over a year ago and lived on his home property for three months while getting their new home set up.
They said they also rented a building from Eckhardt in St. Peter's to run a gym.
But after moving to Canada, Schmid said they found out that Eckhardt's prices were too steep and they asked to get out of the lease.
They said that's when Eckhardt threatened to have their visas revoked and have them sent back to Germany, unless they paid him around $25,000 or handed over the gym equipment, resulting in an extortion charge.
"That's the reason why we are going to the police," said Schmid, adding she and Westerhoff were "very shocked" by Eckhardt's alleged demands.
RCMP said they investigated a report of shots fired near the Schmid property in December, not long after the extortion charge was laid.
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