Keep the charges coming

The trustee working on the case said records indicate Jones and his wife paid themselves about $70,000 a month from his Pointe Claire-based company’s accounts. While it appears she didn’t partake in the business operations, she was still paid.

Jones’ wife and a daughter both issued a written public statement, prior to his arrest last week and about a week after he went missing in early July, saying they were devastated and shocked by the allegations against him and that they had no knowledge of what was going on at the office.

The statement was vague – probably purposefully so, saying how contrite the family was, but offering no clue on where they or Jones (he was still in hiding at the time) actually were. It was crafted and sent through a PR agency (who should really have gotten paid in advance), and smacked of PC pandering and image cleansing.

At the time, many people speculated whether or not his wife knew anything of the alleged Ponzi scheme Jones used to defraud about 150 investors of up to $100 million. Well, if she was being paid a lucrative amount of funds (for not doing any work) and spending the money lavishly as reported, she must have been aware this is not standard business practice. Police should investigate her thoroughly because she directly benefited from the alleged financial scam. Any assets that authorities could seize from Jones should go to pay back alleged victims.

One investigator said the best-paid employee of Earl Jones' scam company was Maxine Jones herself. Frankly, it's hard to imagine she was so naïve about money that she never questioned the source of the tens of thousands of dollars a month she and her husband were helping themselves to. It's equally difficult to imagine she simply put her head in the sand and wanted to not know the source of their expensive lifestyle.

Um, Maxine? Most people have one home. You had four of them, and you claimed to know nothing about it.

For shame.

Considering, though, the lacklustre results of punishing white-collar crime in Canada, it’s not even reassuring that those benefiting directly from fraudsters will likely have their day in court.

The self-styled financial advisor was charged last Wednesday with four counts of fraud of over $5,000 and with four counts of theft of over $5,000. Jones, released on $30,000 bail, will be in court to face these charges on Sept. 28, and there is a possibility more charges are pending.