I am truly ashamed of myself for falling for this type of scam. I should have known better.
My real estate agent referred me to Darren Fox who said he ran a company that investment in buying older residential properties in Leaside area of Toronto and rebuilding larger homes on the property.
He told me his firm was experienced and built about 4 homes a year and that Foxgate Homes, was registered with the Ontario Securities Commission and he himself was registered with both the Ontario Securities Commission and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. His web-site www.foxgatehomes.com is now password protected but when I originally looked at it, it stated that they were an exempt market dealer who sold investments to qualified investors. When I asked Darren Fox
about this, he told me that I would be a qualified investor so would be eligible to invest in Foxgate Homes. I still dont know what qualified me to invest in his company. He also sent me a link by email to prove his legitimacy of his registration on the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.
The site now says the license status is no sponsor not authorized to sell.
Last week after talking to the police I went to the Ontario Securities Commission website to check on them and they have no record of Foxgate Homes or Darren Fox.
Originally, I gave Darren Fox an investment of $ 5,000 and then another $10,000 after 45 days. I was supposed to have given them an additional $ 25,000 on August 4. This is the investment contract I signed with Foxgate Homes. But I was promised that I would be receiving both a receipt and weekly expenditure reports by email. I was told that a lawyer for my protection was holding my money in trust.
When I confronted Darren Fox about this, he became very belligerent and accused me of trying to get out of our investment contract. He then began harassing me with phone calls, texts and emails saying that he would sue me in small claims court for the $25,000 and my credit would be ruined if he commenced a claim against me and I would have no choice but to come up with the money except it would be for exemplary damages and would not be considered an investment and I "would never get any money back in this case."
When I asked him for proof of the status of my $ 15,000 investment he told me he has been in business for 20 years and no one has ever questioned him about how he conducted his affairs. And that as a businessman, when he "makes a commitment, he sticks to it."
He started texting and emailing me relentlessly. He would call my home and my office. When I told him to stop calling me he told me I couldnt tell him what to do and he has a constitutional right to contact anyone he wants, especially people like me who werent meeting theyre contracts.
He finally stopped calling me when I told him he was going to call the authorities, but he told me this week he was going to sue me for the $25,000 in small claims court in due course and that I should govern yourself accordingly. And that
when he won his suit, he would be going to the media to let everyone know that I dont live up to the contracts I sign. He says he doesnt want any other businesses to become a victim of your lies like he was.
I have no idea what has happened to my $ 15,000. I can only assume that it is gone. I have been the victim of a confidence man. What has frustrated me more is when I called the police, they seemed disinterested and told me all I could do was to contact the Ontario Securities Commission. When I called them, they took my information and said someone would get back to me and that was over a week and half ago. They just dont seem to be taking my complaint seriously. But if he was never registered with them, what can they do? I guess it is like Earl Jones in Quebec. I am going to speak with a lawyer next week but I don't want to spend another $15,000 to get my original $ 15,000 back.
Be very careful when you invest. And check with the various authorities before investing. I cant believe I was such an idiot.
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