 Family of Kelowna resident Edna Coulic says she committed suicide after losing her life savings in a Ponzi scheme that has two Calgary area residents charged.
|
Thousands lost their savings, some even lost their homes.
Edna Coulic, unable to see a future outside a million-dollar pit of debt and despair, lost her life.
"She felt at that point she was a disgrace, she was a loser, and she could never regain her place in life -- she couldn't face people. It was that hard, and she couldn't see any other way out," said Gloria Lozinski.
Lozinski repeatedly tried to talk her sister out of the depression which overwhelmed her, once she learned her money had been lost to a vast Ponzi scheme, but she says the formerly "outgoing and vibrant" Edna never recovered. "She went from enjoying life, loving her life, to that realization she had lost everything," said Lozinski.
In October of last year, Edna killed herself.
Before her suicide, the 43-year-old Kelowna woman wrote notes blaming her situation on the Calgary-based investment scam currently under investigation by RCMP and U.S. authorities.
She told her family she'd been conned, investing in a fraud that was already under quiet RCMP scrutiny.
Part of Lozinski's fury is that no one in authority warned the public: "Why didn't they say anything?"
Two men, both from the Calgary area, are now charged with fraud and theft after allegedly bilking more than 3,000 investors out of cash that conservatively totals $100 million, but is likely closer to $400 million.
Milowe Brost, the 55-year-old owner of a lakeside house in Chestermere, is out on bail. His alleged partner, 66-year-old Gary Sorenson, is believed at his home in Honduras.
Police say they could only make the scheme public after charges were filed.
The Ponzi, which allegedly convinced people to invest heavily in fraudulent companies, was promoted through a network of salespeople, or structuralists, as they were known.
It was matter of people convincing friends, family and business associates to invest in an amazing opportunity with stellar returns -- many of the structuralists naively believed it, ultimately losing their own money in the scam.
Lozinski doesn't care. Along with the ringleaders, already charged by the RCMP, she believes the entire network of Ponzi players, patsy or not, should pay for the devastation. "All the people down the line should have to liquidate their assets, and maybe then the message will get through that you can't get away with this sort of thing," she said.
The ringleaders, she says, should be charged with the death of her sister.
"They should be held responsible for that -- at the end of the day, they pretty much pulled the trigger," said Lozinski.
Pauline Coulic, Edna's mom, can only wonder what she might have done to convince her daughter there was still hope, despite her staggering debt load.
"I so tried to convince her -- she said a few times she was going to take her life, and I said sweetheart, you can't do it, it's only money and we'll work it out. We'll fix it," said Coulic.
Pauline, Edna and a third daughter, Wanda, worked together in the Kelowna real-estate market.
The still-grieving mom describes her daughter as a happy, social person, who loved chatting with her mom and sisters.
It would have been her 44th birthday this Friday.
Pauline said Edna lost close to $300,000 to the actual scam, but like others, she was so convinced of the massive rate of return on her investment, she spent that money too.
"The worst of it is, because of (the scam), she thought the money's coming in, so it was 'I'm going to invest in this, and this, and this.' They were telling her all these stories and she believed them," said Pauline.
"I'm sure she lost around a million dollars in all."
Pauline said the final straw may have come when Edna tried to get her money back, calling the salesperson who sold her on the scheme in the first place.
The salesperson, says Pauline, only mocked her daughter -- a supposed friend -- for not being more careful.
"She said, 'Why didn't you do your due diligence,' and that was right before she lost her life," said Pauline. "It was such a rude thing to say."
Pauline said she's happy police have finally moved in, even if it's too late to save her daughter.
For Edna, she can only mourn.
"My heart is hurting right now," said Pauline.
MICHAEL.PLATT@SUNMEDIA.CA
