A prominent Kitchener, Ont., financier accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars was charged Friday with fraud and theft over $5,000, after a multi-year investigation.
Daniel P. Reeve, former financial advisor turned real estate investor turned life coach, has been the target of an intense investigation by the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Fraud Division for more than three years.
The 52-year-old was arrested in Collingwood, Ont., on Thursday.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 2006 and 2009 in what is considered one of the biggest fraud investigations ever in the region.
The WRPS has been investigating Reeve since then.
“Some people ask why it took so long,” said Det.-Sgt. Robert Cowan, a WRPS fraud investigator. “Well, it's a large, complex fraud investigation, and we want to make sure we get it right.
“We’re talking over 175 victims and totalling over $30 million in losses in investments.”
Over the years Reeve has been part of a number of business ventures, including DPR Financial Inc., Millionaire Mortgage Inc. and Jakobstettle Inn.
In 2009 the Financial Services Commission of Ontario issued a cease-and-desist order against him and his companies.
Shortly after that, Reeve sat down for an interview with CTV News.
“This was not a grand scheme. This is not another Madoff story,” Reeve said. “This is not a pigeon king situation.
“In this case, where we've done some loans to the companies to pay them a very attractive rate and plough that money back into the business, that's great in an up market, and unfortunately I haven’t been through a market like this either, and its not fun.”
It's been no fun for investors either. Many allege they've lost their life savings to Reeve, who promised they would eventually get their money.
Subsequently, many investors have filed civil suits against him.
In the case of the Jakobstettle Inn in St. Jacobs, a Windsor-area family has already won a million-dollar civil suit against Reeve.
It’s unclear if or how much they and others who have already won civil suits have been reimbursed.
For now, police won’t say where the money went.
“That'll come out though,” said Cowan.
Reeve appeared briefly in a Kitchener court on Friday afternoon to hear the charges against him. He will be spending the weekend behind bars before appearing in bail court on Monday morning.
With files from CTV Kitchener
