Ottawa couple loses $300,000 in alleged investment fraud

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Spot the Scam Week: Ottawa couple loses $300k

Spot the Scam: Investment Fraud

Spot the Scam: Every day, people across Ottawa and Canada are falling victim to scams. This week, CTVNewsOttawa.ca will share their stories and advice on how to spot a scam.

Five years from retirement, Adnan Siddiky thought he had finally built the life he came to Canada for. Instead, he and his wife say they’re out hundreds of thousands of dollars in what they now believe is an alleged investment fraud.

“The only option we have now is working and paying off the mortgage for the next 15 years just to get out of the hole,” Siddiky said. “I have just lost faith in humans, especially people that you trust.”

The couple says trusted family friends introduced them to HYWI Capital, a Toronto-based company, last March.

“I’ve known them for 31 years. They approached us saying that there’s this fantastic investment opportunity where we can make a lot of money,” Siddiky said. “In a way, I thought they were kind of pushing us to invest in this company.”

He says they invested a total of $303,623 after taking out a second mortgage on their Ottawa home into what they believed was a safe investment.

The contract promised a two per cent monthly return and their money back after one year, signed they believed by the company’s CEO.

According to the loan agreement, the funds were to be transferred to the company’s chief operating officer, Mark Cummings, a former insurance executive.

“[Cummings] said there were no risks, that’s exactly what his words were,” Siddiky said. “They said they were investing into two things, I remember one was stock trading. We sent that money and we were told in July we will start getting the returns on our money.”

But it wasn’t until the end of August that they received two months’ worth of payments and then nothing.

“He said, ‘Oh, there’s a glitch with your banking. Don’t worry, it’s going to come,’” Siddiky said.

During that time, he says Cummings introduced them to a man named Eugene Todorov, who was described to them as a senior partner, and eventually they tried to withdraw their investment.

“Eugene and Mark, they were saying don’t worry everything’s going to be fine. You’ve sent us the withdrawal form, we have it, we’ll get your money back,” Siddiky said.

But Siddiky says that never happened. CTV News has learned of at least five others with similar stories, including two named in an ongoing civil lawsuit, with a combined $1.5 million in losses. But several people involved say that total could be much higher.

And the man listed as CEO, Vlad Marchuk, says he left the company in April 2023 and the signature on the Siddiky’s contract is a forgery.

In an email, Marchuk tells CTV News, “Since that time, I am legally not related to HYWI capital in any capacity. I didn’t represent the company and didn’t sign any agreements on behalf of the company since April 8, 2023.”

In an email, Cummings says he is no longer involved with HYWI Capital, saying, “I vehemently deny all other allegations and have no further comment at this time.”

Eugene Todorov did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeff Filliter, a senior investigator with Haywood Hunt & Associates, says the way the investment was pitched raises concerns, especially the unusually high returns.

“The fact that they would appear to be offering a 24 per cent return on investment per annum is outrageously high, so that, in and to itself, is a huge red flag,” said Filliter. “The fact that they are using others to recruit some of these victims suggests that this is a relatively large-scale operation.”

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) wouldn’t say if it’s investigating but confirmed in an email to the Siddikys that neither HYWI Capital nor Cummings are registered to deal in securities in Ontario.

As for Siddiky, he says the hardest part isn’t just losing money, it’s the trust.

“Be very careful. I still believe we were pushed into doing something that we were not ready or willing to do by people that we completely trusted,” said Siddiky.

Both Cummings and Todorov are listed as defendants in an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by two other investors seeking to recover their money.

According to that lawsuit, Todorov was charged quasi-criminally with fraud, unregistered trading, illegal distribution and breaching an OSC order in 2016.

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