Mayoral candidate Hensel leaves trail of bitterness
Landlords talk of unpaid rent, while ex-workers file for Wages
Word that Thomas Hensel is running for mayor has prompted a flurry of warnings from people who claim to be his financial victims.
“People need to know, this guy is, oh my gosh, you can’t believe it,” says Steve Liudavicius, who had Hensel evicted last year from his rental property in Walkerville for not paying rent.
“I thought he was a decent guy and he got in and he was nothing but grief…. He took me for probably three to four grand by the time the sheriff dragged him out.” Liudavicius is one of several Windsorites who tell the Star they were swayed by initial good impressions of Hensel, a law school graduate who had his licence revoked while still articling for holding himself out as a lawyer and then misleading investigators. In addition to landlords not paid their rent, former employees have filed claims of unpaid wages to the Ministry of Labour. One local man says he lent Hensel $1,260 and never was repaid. Another businessman said Hensel made himself out as a wealthy investor, claiming to have sold his app to Google for $800,000, and promised to invest in his ventures.
“He’s incredibly intelligent, so intelligent that no matter how intelligent you are you can be taken in,” said Justice Fornier, who said he spent about three months working out a deal to open a gym with Hensel, whose promises of investment money turned out to be fictitious.
“He cost me friendships, money, time, effort and business plans I can’t even do now,” said Fornier. “Honestly, I think it’s like he plays big time to get small time. I swear to God, he’s having a two-hour business meeting about a building to get a coffee and a doughnut. That’s the vibe I get after months of dealing with this guy.” Hensel supplied the Star written responses to the allegations, countering them and asserting that he’d be launching appeals or counterclaims against the legal decisions that have gone against him. Regarding Liudavicius’s claims of being owed rent money, Hensel said the building he lived in was “problematic,” that he couldn’t make the rent after closing a café he’d helped run, “and Steve served me with a notice to leave the unit.” He said all these problems unfolding recently — including two evictions within a year — are simply a series of unfortunate events. He said he never told anyone he had $800,000.
“I’m a very humble person. I don’t have any money to speak of, certainly not $800,000,” Hensel said, explaining that he is now living with friends in an apartment on Bruce Avenue, paying $300 for rent and with very little in the way of other expenses.
What modest income he has comes from an app he’s trying to develop that works sort of like Groupon promotions, he said. He denied allegations made by several people that he’s a con man. “If that’s who I was, then why would I be running for mayor and throwing my name out there publicly? I’m not trying to con anyone out of anything.”
Hensel, 52, is an Osgoode Hall Law School graduate who never became a lawyer because the Law Society of Upper Canada determined he was holding himself out as a lawyer while still an articling student. His membership was revoked in 2003 before he came to Windsor, not just for pretending to be a lawyer but also for providing false or misleading documents to law society investigators.
For example, he swears in a document to the law society that “during the said period or periods of service, I did not hold any office or receive any remuneration, nor was I engaged in any employment other than that of an articled law student.”
The law society decision says that statement by Hensel was “clearly false,” and that Hensel “knew it was false.”
In May, he told the Star he moved to Windsor 10 years ago to be with a girlfriend and fell in love with the area and its people.
He said he was an entrepreneur and app developer who wanted to be mayor as part of a “Fresh Start” slate of candidates who want to improve the city.
When Patsy Copus met him a couple of years ago, he introduced himself as the next mayor of Windsor, Copus said. She said she was so impressed she agreed to be part of his slate and run for a council seat in Ward 3, but was subsequently disqualified for incorrectly filling out her paperwork.
She said Hensel had asked to move into the home she and her husband run as a bed and breakfast starting in June, but she started to get suspicious. She said she went to check out his last residence, a house on Howard Avenue that he said he’d sold, only to learn he’d been a tenant who’d been evicted. “I found out he’d been leaving behind a trail of landlords who weren’t too happy.”
The owner of the Howard house, Nishi Jaggi, said she purchased the house last December with Hensel already living there.
“He paid me rent for December and January and after that he never paid me any rent,” said Jaggi, who said the Howard house was her first rental property and Hensel was her first, and worst, tenant.
She said he owes her almost $6,000.
“He didn’t pay me rent since March and he left so much garbage in the house I had to pay $700 to $800 to get the house cleaned,” she said, adding that she discovered more than 100 empty pizza boxes in the basement after he left. “I will not vote for him at all and I will tell everyone I know, ‘Don’t vote for him,’ ” said Jaggi, who said she’s heard many similar stories about Hensel since she evicted him. Hensel, who listed the Howard house as his residence when he was the first candidate to register for the mayor’s race on May 1, denies he ever said he owned the house. He said he withheld rent because of numerous problems like flooding and unfinished work that Jaggi failed to address.
He said after he left on June 10 he was unable to get back in to have it cleaned, and that Jaggi actually owes him money for the damages caused by the flooding. Another person who says he’s owed money by Hensel, Sean Gregson, said he posted a “Beware, beware beware” warning on social media after learning Hensel is running for mayor. He said he heard Hensel was going door-to-door seeking donations.
“It just drives me crazy to see he’s continuing to take money from people,” he said, asserting that Hensel is collecting donations for his own benefit. “This is a man who has got his hat in the ring for the mayor of the City of Windsor with no intention of winning.” Gregson said Hensel owes him $1,260.
Hensel said the idea that he’s running for personal financial gain is insulting. He said he’s only collected $525 from fundraising and has already paid $200 to register. “I announced my interest in running almost two years ago and decided to pursue it in hopes of having a platform to address key issues that I think we need to talk about in this election — an independent auditor general, poverty reduction and infrastructure,” he writes. He accused Gregson of harassing him after their business dealings turned sour and assaulting him at a Tim Hortons in June. “Sean has continued to harass me and after learning of my candidacy has gone to considerable effort to contact many of my friends and supporters.” Several people interviewed by the Star said they had recently talked to Windsor Police fraud investigators about Hensel. Police spokesman Const. Andy Drouillard said he couldn’t comment on whether an investigation is underway.
“On a general case basis, we don’t comment on an ongoing investigation to protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of everyone involved,” he said. To register in the Oct. 22 municipal election, candidates need 25 signatures endorsing their candidacy. Four who signed for Hensel are running for Windsor council, including Ward 8 candidate Lisa Valente.
“When I signed that paper, all I knew was that Tom Hensel was this really wealthy man who was running for city hall,” who seemed to have some “great ideas,” she said. But once she started hearing the stories, “I said, ‘No, I’m out.’ ” Elaine Adam said she was hired by Hensel in January 2017 to be vice-president of operations for Hensel’s company, Didymus Prime Corporation, which was supposed to be developing and marketing an app called Slice.
She started becoming suspicious of Hensel when he wouldn’t sign any documents, she said, and quit after three weeks because she wasn’t being paid.
She made a claim to the labour ministry for unpaid wages totalling $3,461. According to the ministry’s decision, when the investigating employment standards officer initially contacted Hensel, he said he used to work for Didymus Prime but no longer does.
After a series of efforts to contact him and send him documentation which Hensel said he never received, he was finally interviewed. He told the officer that Adam was never an employee.
But Adam, who said she has experience in software product management, provided evidence that convinced the investigator, including a package welcoming her to the “executive management team in Windsor.” The employment standards officer was convinced she’d been an employee and ordered that she be paid $3,600. Adam said she is yet to be paid. “He is just a dangerous person to be in business with,” she said. Hensel continues to say Adam was never hired, that he was only one of the company ’s directors and that he was given only three days to respond to her claim to the labour ministry. Two other employees made similar claims, he said. “I’m looking into the possibility of appealing the decision,” he writes. He said in addition to the two front-runners for mayor — incumbent Mayor Drew Dilkens and former chamber of commerce president Matt Marchand — he is one of three other candidates. “It is my intention to continue the campaign, with limited resources, and ... remain on the ballot, so that the people of Windsor have an alternative choice on this year’s ballot.”
If that’s who I was, then why would I be running for mayor and throwing my name out there publicly? I’m not trying to con anyone out of anything.