MAN WITH BAG OF CASH HAS B. C. TIES
Alleged money launderer Erwin Speckert owns lakefront property in Naramata, has had dealings with controversial promoters
Ihave been doing some more digging into Erwin Speckert’s business dealings in B. C. and have found some interesting connections. As previously reported, Speckert, 50, lives in Minden, Ont., but he routes much of his business dealings through his myriad offshore companies, mainly Everest Asset Management AG, a Zurich- based company that provides asset management and protection services for its clients.
Some of these clients, it is becoming increasingly clear, are not exactly what you would call blue- chip businessmen.
Speckert made headlines last August when the B. C. Securities Commission alleged that, during 2009 and 2010, he had funnelled $ 8.2 million to Abbotsford newsletter writer Colin McCabe to hype dubious stocks trading on the OTC Bulletin Board in the United States.
Speckert refused to say who provided the money: he claimed he was constrained by Swiss confidentiality laws, which is a convenient explanation in these sorts of situations.
BCSC investigators were not happy with this response. They alleged that Speckert and McCabe, by facilitating the “secret promotion” of securities in or from B. C., had brought the B. C. securities market into disrepute. A hearing is pending.
Speckert made headlines again this week when Manitoba RCMP revealed that, in February 2012, he had been caught at a Winnipeg bus depot transporting $ 1.3 million in cash in his backpack while en route to Vancouver.
Police released him after he provided a plausible explanation for transporting all that cash, but they continued their investigation. In February this year, they charged him with possessing and laundering the proceeds of crime — to wit, the proceeds of illegal gambling in Ontario. No details were provided. The case is pending.
That raises two questions: Why was Speckert transporting this money to Vancouver, and what business interests does he have here?
I note that Speckert is listed as the sole director and officer of a B.C.-registered company called Naramata Golden Properties Ltd.
According to the B. C. Assessment Authority, this company owns lakefront residential property at 4785 Mill Rd. in Naramata, valued at $ 2,146,000. Speckert appears to be the beneficial owner of this property. A Naramata phone directory dated June 2012 lists an “E. Speckert” as a resident.
Speckert has also been closely associated with longtime West Vancouver stock promoter Ingo Mueller, who has been in regulatory trouble here and in the United States.
In April 2005, the U. S. Securities Commission filed a complaint in U. S. District Court in Nevada alleging that Mueller and several others participated in a scheme to manipulate the share price of a Vancouver- based bulletin board company called Exotics. com Inc., which advertised escort services and provided access to porn sites.
The SEC alleged he conducted the offending trades through brokerage accounts in the name of Mueller’s B. C.- registered company, St. George Capital Corp., which provided management services to Exotics. com.
Mueller settled the matter in April 2010 by neither admitting nor denying the allegations, but agreeing not to act as a director or officer of a U. S. public company or participate in any U. S. penny stock offering for five years. He also agreed to pay a $ 75,000 civil penalty.
The BCSC took similar action against Mueller. In November 2006, he settled the matter by admitting he had been the “guiding mind” of Exotics. com and had published press releases that contained false or misleading statements about the company.
He agreed not to act as an officer or director, or engage in investor relations activities, for any public company for a three- year period. He also agreed to pay a $ 40,000 fine.
None of this appears to have deterred Speckert. He became a director of St. George Capital in February 2010. This was about the same time Speckert was funnelling money to McCabe to promote dubious bulletin board stocks. I have no evidence that Mueller was involved in these promotions, but it does beg the question: what business were they doing?
Speckert resigned as a director of St. George Capital in August 2012, just days after the BCSC issued its formal allegations against him and McCabe. Ingo Mueller and his wife, Milena, are still directors.
Speckert and Mueller were also codirectors of a private B. C.- registered company called ICUC Resources ( Canada) Ltd. I have been unable to determine what this company does. They stepped down in July 2011 and were replaced by Mark Burridge of London, England, and Thibault Delespaul of Vancouver.
These two men have other connections to Mueller and Speckert. In May 2012, they showed up in securities filings as officers and/ or directors in a private British Virgin Islands company called International Copper Company Ltd., which is run out of Mueller’s office in downtown Vancouver.
The chairman and major shareholder of this company was listed as Speckert. Other significant shareholders included St. George Capital ( Mueller’s company) and a BVI- registered company called Landolt Holdings Inc., which is owned by Speckert and was one of the companies that he used to funnel money to McCabe for stock touting purposes.
I wanted to ask Mueller about all this, but he did not return my telephone message this week.