Orillia-area financial advisor pleads guilty to $1.8 million fraud of 25 victims

A longtime financial advisor has pleaded guilty to defrauding 25 victims out of nearly $2 million.

Kevin Douse, 41, was convicted inside a Barrie courtroom of victimizing people, including family members, of $1.8 million between 2016 and 2023. The court heard that money they thought was being invested by Douse was deposited in his personal bank account and being used for himself.

The Crown said Douse “repeatedly lied to his victims, forged numerous documents and signatures, impersonated his victims, and directed several unauthorized transactions.”

Police arrested Douse in April following a 16-month investigation, charging him with defrauding the public of funds over $5,000 and 11 counts of uttering a forged document.

• Financial advisor from Severn Twp., Ont. arrested after allegedly committing $1.8 million in fraud

“The feeling of betrayal and heartbreak has devastated me,” said one person to CTV News following Douse’s arrest. “Not only losing my financial security but also losing somebody who I valued as a friend. It’s truly been horrible.”

The person said most of his clients were friends and family members who were exploited. Some clients lost the entirety of their life and retirement savings. It is unclear where the money went.

Clients told CTV News they thought Douse, while working for a now-defunct downtown Orillia-based company called WLTH Inc., was investing their money. The court heard he provided clients with falsified statements using the Canada Life Assurance Company logo and passed the documents off as legitimate investment records without ever investing their money.

Douse defrauded clients by asking them to provide investment funds in the form of cheques made payable to him personally, rather than to an investment company.

• Former clients of Orillia-area financial advisor accused in $2M fraud investigation speak out

One woman, a senior battling cancer, wrote Douse a $145,000 cheque thinking he was investing her savings. The woman never got back her money and died a week prior to Douse’s arrest.

Court records show Douse is currently named in at least eight civil suits in Barrie’s Superior Court of Justice.

According to the Crown, Douse committed the fraud between 2016 and late 2023. The court heard he also defrauded his in-laws out of about $20,000.

Douse is due back in an Orillia courtroom next month to set a date for his sentencing hearing.