Showing posts with label fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fraud. Show all posts

Friday, November 19, 2010

Limo Service Faces Fraud Charges

CTV Southwestern Ontario

Date: Friday Nov. 19, 2010 2:37 PM ET

A 36-year-old woman from Brantford is facing numerous fraud charges after complaints against Bellagio Limousines.


Waterloo Regional Police Fraud Branch investigators received several complaints that alleged fraudulent activity as far back as January 2010.


Victims allege the company took deposits for limousine service, but they were left with no service or sub-standard service.


According to police the limousines were booking primarily for wedding dates by couples both within and outside of the Region of Waterloo.


Police are asking anyone who has information or who may have dealt with the company to call the Fraud Office at 519-650-8500 Ext. 8372 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Wedding Nightmare Ends: Jakobstettel Inn is Sold

By Rose Simone, Record staff

ST. JACOBS The Jakobstettel Inn has been sold to a numbered company headed by Jim McConnell, president of Kitchener trucking company BLM Transportation Group. The inn was sold for $1.45 million in a cash deal on July 16, according to land registry documents.

McConnell said Friday he is not yet prepared to make a formal statement about why he was interested in the inn on Isabella Street in St. Jacobs, and what he intends to do with it. However, a note posted on the Jakobstettel website that says: “The Inn will be opening under new management in August with ten beautiful, distinctly furnished rooms for $199 to $399 per night.”

The two-hectare property includes a gated three-storey Victorian home with 10 guest suites, a heated inground pool with poolside cabana bar and grill, tennis courts and gardens, as well as meeting room facilities.

BLM was founded in 1984 with one truck and has grown into a company with 170 tractors and 500 trailers. It transports electronics, office furniture, general merchandise and foodstuffs throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The Jakobstettel Inn was one of the businesses run by Daniel P. Reeve, whose troubled business ventures are now the subject of a criminal investigation by the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch.

The fraud branch has received about 110 complaints and is looking into alleged investment losses of about $19 million, according to Sgt. Rob Zensner of the police fraud division. The investments are related to various businesses that were run by Reeve, including DPR Financial Inc., which was based in Cambridge, the Millionaire Group and Millionaire in You Wealth Institute in Waterloo, as well as the Jakobstettel Inn.

When the inn closed this spring, couples who had booked weddings there lost their deposits and were left scrambling to find other locations for their weddings.

Reeve left the inn heavily in debt. Tuerr Holdings Inc., which had first and second mortgages on the property was owed $680,765 on the second mortgage and Brunen Holdings Inc was owed $350,000 on a third mortgage, according to court judgments.

When the inn was advertised in a power of sale process last month, Grant Hagerty of DTZ Barnicke in Waterloo-Wellington, the real estate company that was appointed as broker of record, said the purpose of the “sealed bid” auction process was to get the best possible offer in the shortest time frame.


IMO: What is taking the Waterloo Regional Police so long to make an arrest?

Monday, June 29, 2009

Wanted: New Owners for Jakobstettel Inn

by Rose Simone
RECORD STAFF

The Jakobstettel Inn has been put up for sale with the hopes of finding a new owner by the end of next month.The inn, on Isabella Street in St. Jacobs, was one of the businesses run by Daniel P. Reeve, whose troubled business ventures are now the subject of a review by the Waterloo Regional Police fraud branch.

Waterloo Regional Police Sgt. Rob Zensner said the police have now received about 100 complaints about alleged investment losses that total more than $16 million. That includes investments related to the Jakobstettel Inn, as well as other investments sold through companies headed by Reeve.

The inn closed earlier this spring. Many couples who had booked weddings there lost their deposits and had to scramble to find other locations for their weddings. The property is now going through a power-of-sale process as the mortgage holders try to recover their money.

Tuerr Holdings Inc., which had first and second mortgages on the property, is owed $680,765 on the second mortgage; Brunen Holdings Inc. is owed $350,000 on a third mortgage, according to court judgments.

The inn is being sold in a rapid "sealed bid" auction process that aims to get the property into the hands of a new owner as soon as possible, according to Grant Hagerty of DTZ Barnicke in Waterloo-Wellington, the real estate company appointed as broker of record.

Hagerty said details of the inn's sealed-bid auction have been distributed to about 200 operators of inns and bed and breakfast properties, as well as other businesses that might be interested.
The sealed-bid auction closes on June 30 at 4 p.m.

Hagerty said the intent is to get a "fast and furious" serious bid process going. He said the seller, Tuerr Holdings, wants to get the property into the hands of a suitable buyer and "see it go to a positive use."

The two-hectare property includes a gated three-storey Victorian home with 10 guest suites, a heated in-ground pool with poolside cabana bar and grill, tennis courts and gardens, as well as meeting room facilities.

Hagerty said there are many possibilities for the property. A prospective buyer might be interested in running it as an inn or as a bed and breakfast, he said. Companies also might be interested in it as a guest house and meeting facility, and someone might even eye it as a private residence, he said.

"We are looking at as diverse a range as possible," he said.

There is no starting price for the bids, but the advantage of having a sealed-bid process with a short time frame is that it encourages serious buyers to put their best offers forward. "If they don't, someone else will," Hagerty said. "What we are trying to do is create a competitive bid situation."

Tuerr Holdings hopes to select the best offer on July 3, and finalize the sale by the end of July.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Wedding Nightmare, North of Waterloo

No answer at the inn! Horror of horrors! What's going on north of Waterloo, Ontario?


Couples who had wedding plans at the Jakobstettel Inn in St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada are suddenly scrambling to find other venues after the inn located in an old mansion closed.


Meanwhile, Waterloo Regional Police are reviewing 22 complaints about investment products offered by various businesses headed by Jakobstettel Inn's owner, Daniel P. Reeve, who also runs DPR Financial Inc. and The Millionaire in You Wealth Institute on King Street in Waterloo.


Staff Sgt. Wally Hogg of the Waterloo Regional Police fraud squad said the review is taking place to see whether a full investigation is warranted.


In a telephone interview with The Record, Reeve denied that there were any problems.


"We have hid nothing . . . we have done nothing wrong," he said.


Reeve said he fully intends to reopen the Jakobstettel Inn for business on April 21 and is training new staff.


He promised to refund money owed couples who booked weddings, but are now worried and want to cancel the bookings.


"If anybody wants to cancel, they will get their deposit back. If they want to continue on, great . . . we will honour any commitment," Reeve said.


Some couples haven't heard anything from Reeve or anyone else from Jakobstettel Inn. Others have started a Facebook group in an effort to find out what is going on.


The inn was found locked with no information on its door. The phone was unanswered and there was no answering machine picking up messages.


Reeve said if anyone has any problems or questions, they should call his assistant at 519-883-8414 or 1-866-240-6737.