Investigator couldn't determine what exactly happened to $211M raised by failed Saskatoon real estate group
CBC
A court-appointed investigator looking into the Epic Alliance group of companies says the public may never fully know what happened to the hundreds of millions raised by the failed Saskatoon real estate venture.
"Based on the unaudited books and records of EA Group, total funds raised from Investors amounted to approximately $211.9 million," wrote Peter Chisholm from Ernst and Young in the 58-page report.
"Due to incomplete books and records prior to 2019, the Inspector has been unable to reach conclusions regarding the use of Investor funds for that period of time."
On Feb. 25, 2022, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Allisen Rothery assigned Ernst and Young to look into the Epic Alliance affairs. Rothery unsealed the private report on Friday.
The report establishes that entrepreneurs Rochelle LaFlamme and Alisa Thompson created Epic Alliance in August 2013 and ran it until they told 121 investors in a video meeting on Jan. 19, 2022, that there was no money left.
"At the end of the operations of the EA Group, only nominal cash and other assets remained," Chisholm wrote.
The report details how the pair created an "eco-system" of inter-related companies that bought more that 700 homes, the bulk in Saskatoon's core neighbourhoods.
It raises questions about how the pair enticed investors into their scheme and how the company used fresh money to pay off existing obligations. It also questions how homes were appraised and mortgages were obtained.
Saskatoon lawyer Mike Russell represents the investors and made the application for the investigator.
"One important point here, a very concerning point, is there are no records available to the inspector before 2019," he said in an interview.
"So you've got, from 2013 to 2019, it's a complete black box. We have no idea what happened in that time period."
The analysis of how Epic operated focused on the period of 2019 to early 2022.
LaFlamme and Thompson created Epic Alliance in 2013. It soon evolved into a web of named and numbered companies, including Epic Alliance Real Estate, Epic Alliance Electrical, Epic Accounting and Bookkeeping, and Epic Holdings. It had 118 employees.
They created and ran three main ventures: a loan program based on promissory notes, a "Fund-A-Flip" program and a "Hassle Free Landlord Program."
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