July 31, 2012 00:07:00
Rose Simone, Record staff
KITCHENER — Sitting quietly behind a glass enclosure in a Kitchener courtroom on Monday, the dynamic image of former financial adviser Daniel P. Reeve had disappeared.
Wearing a goatee and blue-checkered shirt, he bore little resemblance to the clean-shaven businessman in expensive suits who ran the Jakobstettel Inn in St. Jacobs and the Millionaire in You Wealth Institute in Waterloo a few years ago.
Reeve, 52, was remanded in custody to give him time to speak to a lawyer. He’s been arrested and charged in one of the biggest fraud cases in Waterloo Region’s history.
According to the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch, 175 potential victims of the fraud case were convinced to contribute to private and public investments between 2006 and 2009. Total losses are estimated at nearly $30 million.
Reeve, a former Elora-area resident and businessman now living in Collingwood, has been charged with defrauding the public, and with theft over $5,000. The case is ongoing and there could be other arrests, police say.
During his appearance on Monday, the court issued a ban on the publication of the court proceedings.
His disabled elderly mother was in the courtroom to watch the proceedings.
One of the people who invested money with Reeve, 74-year-old Mike Ferguson of Belwood, just outside Guelph, was also in the courtroom. Speaking outside court, Ferguson said he lost about $200,000 of his retirement savings in 2008.
He said Reeve had been a trusted financial adviser for a number of years. When he was presented with an opportunity to invest in the Jakobstettel Inn in St. Jacobs, he was convinced. “He was a guy we thought we could trust.”
Now, Ferguson’s age and health make it impossible to recoup his losses. “I have a heart problem. Otherwise, I would have gone back to work,” he said.
Reeve’s next court appearance, which will be by video because Reeve is being held at the Maplehurst Detention Centre in Milton, is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
rsimone@therecord.com
