CARP is featuring stories from real members who are experiencing the negative effects of the deficiencies in the key areas that we are promoting during this election period.
Peter Squire is noticeably aggrieved as he speaks to CARP about being defrauded for close to $650,000—the “nest egg” meant to guarantee him and his wife a fine retirement. Instead, the 69-year-old Winnipeg man has sued Access Credit Union and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in an attempt to get back funds and receive acknowledgment that he feels he wasn’t properly advised by established institutions when he became a victim of what he calls “financial elder abuse.”
Squire’s story is typical of what can happen to seniors who are targeted when they trust others with their money. A market analyst for real estate in Manitoba for decades, Squire was used to dealing with banks and credit unions and expected to be treated with respect when he asked for assistance when deciding what to do with his savings. In speaking with CARP, he talked about the CBA (Canadian Bankers Association)’s Code of Conduct which “aims to ensure that seniors receive banking services that are inclusive, responsive, and trustworthy, taking into account potential health, mobility, or cognitive changes that may impact their ability to bank.” Squire doesn’t believe that he was treated well by a financial planner at the RBC, leaving him uncertain about what he should do with his funds and putting him in a position where he could make bad decisions.
On October 31, 2022, Squire recalls, “I answered an unsolicited phone call from a man who said he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at BMO in the GTA. I dealt a lot with Toronto on matters with real estate companies and was used to calls from there. I saw that the call was a 647 number, which is standard even for senior bankers. The man on the phone said he could help with my funds. He sent me a proposal after he talked with me. It had the BMO letterhead and was linked to a BMO site.” Squire also checked on the BMO site and the name the man used was there as one of their executives.
The offer made to Squire was a better one than a credit union or bank would normally make, a trigger in fraudster cases. He was told that the money would be on an older Canadian bond issue at a rate higher than 5%, which was standard at that time.
It was an attractive offer, and Squire was distracted by his real estate practice. “I’m retiring at the end of 2022,” he recalls. “I’m swamped at work training a new executive. I’ve got a trip planned at the end of November to go to Mexico. I had everything under the sun going on. So, I was ready to pull the trigger, right? I checked other GIC rates. I just wanted a one-year term to park this money and get some interest.”
Squire spoke to the man who purported to be from BMO several times. “He sent me information back and forth, and then finally said, ‘Okay, I guess we’re ready to go. I want you to go into your branch and wire the money to an RBC account we’ve set up.” By this point, it was November 9, and Squire had decided to make the transfer through Access Credit Union.
“I didn’t even know what a wire looks like,” admits Squire. “So, he sent me wire instructions and it was kind of funky to be honest with you. I got it the evening before I went into Access, and I was still swamped at work. You’ve got to think of what my mindset was. I was just trying to finish off my job. And I was relying on this guy from BMO to help me facilitate this.”
When Squire went into the credit union, he felt that the service given him wasn’t helpful. “There was a young guy, and I told him that I don’t know what the procedures are for wires. I made it clear that I was going to buy this bond, and that I had BMO wire instruction.” He is still angry about his treatment at Access. “They’re supposed to ask questions. They’re supposed to make sure they’re verifying things. They didn’t do much to assist me.” That day, he made a transfer of $175,000. Just a few days later, he transferred $473,290.08 to a Toronto RBC branch in Toronto to B21 Trade account. From there, it went to a Citibank account in Hong Kong, where it disappeared.
But, surprisingly enough, the fraudster hadn’t disappeared. He was caught in Toronto trying to pull a similar scam with someone in Vancouver. Says Squire, “Yes, they apprehended him. They got his passport, they got his full name, all the details about the guy, and nothing’s been done since. The police didn’t hold him.
“This is the story that I think is shocking for Canadians. When we talk about bail reform and crime and no punishment in this country, this has got to be near the top list. Here’s a Canadian that lost all his money. We caught the guy a month later and they let him run free. He was in Toronto, in the branch. And they’ve done nothing since.”
Squire continues, “I even know his name. My kid sees him on Facebook, living the Life of Riley. He’s on LinkedIn. He could be scamming other people this year. The UK knows about it. I’ve written the UK, and they know who he is. He’s from Wales.”
Squire is deeply upset about what happened to him. More to the point, he’s upset at Canada’s lack of interest in scams and frauds. “I’ve talked to senior MPs. I’ve written to Manitoba MPPs. I wrote to Chrystia Freeland. They totally shut me down. They don’t even want to talk to me. They know it’s happening, and they don’t do anything. The federal government couldn’t care less. The provincial government doesn’t care, either.”
Peter Squire has started a blog and website: novaultnofault.com. Its mission is “to inform the public of the risks of financial fraud, provide education on fraud prevention, and hold financial institutions accountable for the protection of those vulnerable members of society.” He’s a CARP member and a senior with a story to tell and a point to prove.
