CALGARY - One of two suspects in an alleged $400-million Ponzi scheme will
be allowed to travel to B.C. to visit his ailing mother.
Defence lawyer Don MacLeod had Gary Sorenson’s bail provisions relaxed
slightly on Monday to permit him to leave Alberta to see his elderly mom.
Outside court MacLeod said the change wasn’t unusual considering his client
voluntarily returned to Canada to face fraud and theft charges.
“The prior condition restricted him to Alberta,” the lawyer said.
“He has an ailing mother in British Columbia and obviously would like to
attend to her from time to time,” said MacLeod.
“She’s not able to travel.”
MacLeod also said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the fact
Sorenson did not appear in court, although his co-accused, Milowe Brost,
did.
“That’s the norm, nothing remarkable about that.” he said, of Sorenson being
represented by counsel.
Brost was present since he is in the process of changing lawyers from
Toronto counsel Steve Skura, to Calgary lawyer Richard Glenn.
He declined comment following the brief proceeding.
The case was adjourned until March, since both sides are still awaiting
disclosure from investigators, which MacLeod described as “voluminous.”
“My understanding is (it’s) something in the order of 80,000 pages ... in
commercial cases that is not uncommon,” he said.
“No disclosure has been provided to date, as you heard this morning we
anticipate highly voluminous disclosure will be provided in the short term
future,” said MacLeod.
He said even if full disclosure is available by March, it will still be a
long time before the case proceeds to the next step.
“My best guess, and only a guess, is we’re probably at least a year away
from a preliminary inquiry, if not more.”
Both Sorenson and Brost are accused of stealing hundreds of millions of
dollars in the last decade in a Ponzi scheme spanning continents and duping
as many as 4,000 victims.
RCMP allege the two operated a series of phoney companies to which an
international collection of investors loaned money with the promise of a
high rate of return in the gold market.
Court documents allege the amount bilked from investors could reach $400
million.
