Fraudster on the lam in U.S. finally caught

By Collin Gallant on August 13, 2024.

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A former pastor who defrauded dozens of Hatters among thousands of Albertans for millions in a failed real estate company has been apprehended after he left the country prior to his sentencing date last fall.

Ronald James Aitkens, whose firm owned the Cimmaron land development in Medicine Hat, was arrested Aug. 8 with the help of the Whitefish, Mont. unit of the U.S. Border Patrol office based in Spokane, Wash.

The Alberta Securities Commission also thanked members of the public who provided information leading to the arrest.

He has been transferred to authorities in B.C. and will be transported to Calgary to appear in court on Aug. 15, according to a release.

Aitkens, the former head of the Foundation Group of Companies, was to be sentenced Nov. 16, 2023 when Calgary Court of King’s Bench was told he had fled the country weeks earlier.

“Our investigators, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in Canada and the U.S., worked diligently to locate this offender and secure his return to Alberta,” Cynthia Campbell, director of enforcement at the ASC, said in a statement. “Aitkens is a convicted fraudster and the ASC was determined to ensure he did not escape the consequences of his actions. I commend the efforts of our staff, our partner agencies and the public in bringing this fugitive to justice.”

Aitkens faces up to five years less one day in prison and fines of up to $5 million after he was charged and found guilty of criminal fraud in 2020. Sentencing was delayed during the pandemic and potential restitution was also to be determined at the 2023 hearing where a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest.

In 2012, the Foundation Group of Companies began entering court creditor protection proceedings as scheduled disbursements to investors came due.

That included payments to dozens of investors with Medicine Hat addresses who invested amounts of up to $200,000 with the companies.

The ASC accused Aitkens, as the controlling mind behind the company, of improperly transferring funds between the companies.

“Harvest GP” acquired the Cimmaron project in Medicine Hat just prior to bankruptcy proceedings of original developer, Medican. A portion of land under Harvest control outlined in the plan, southwest of South Ridge, was eventually handed over to a mortgage holder.

There is no connection between the firms and the current developer of the Coulee Ridge Community nearby.

Another company director, Roy Juergen Beyer, also faced sanction from the ASC, but it was determined there was no conscious effort on his part to defraud investors.

Beyer played “significantly less” of role in the operation as a marketer and director with the company, according to an ASC decision. He was fined $75,000 and banned for 10 years from most aspects of capital finance activity.

Aitkens was permanently barred from trading securities or acting as a director, manager or adviser to any company that issues securities, according to a King’s Bench order last fall.

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