Jack Wladyka
The longest fraud sentence in Manitoba legal history was handed down Friday in a Winnipeg courtroom to a "financial predator."
Jack Wladyka, 52, was sentenced to 10 years for swindling more than 20 investors out of $6.3 million over 81/2 years.
The level of Wladyka's deceit was "mind-boggling," Justice Diana Cameron said, accepting the 10-year prison sentence recommended by the Crown and Wladyka's lawyer. The maximum sentence for fraud in Canada is 14 years. Cameron agreed with Crown attorney Don Melnyk Wladyka is a "financial predator."
He took the money of trusting investors -- mostly seniors thinking they were buying guaranteed investment certificates -- and deposited it into his own accounts. He used it to invest in the U.S. where the returns -- and risks -- were higher.
Wladyka made bogus statements showing clients their investment and their rate of return. When a client's investment matured, Wladyka reimbursed them using other clients' money.
From 1998 until 2007, he got away with the elaborate scheme until one astute senior in her 80s called the Steinbach Credit Union at tax time looking for her T5 slip. Rose Rudko wanted the slip showing the $3.3-million GIC she believed Wladyka had invested for her at the credit union.
She didn't receive a T5 slip because there was no Steinbach Credit Union GIC in her name. Wladyka took her money and used it to secure his line of credit at the credit union.
At that time, the Steinbach Credit Union told Wladyka it would no longer allow him to use his Boca Raton, Fla., ViewTrade account as security, court heard.
The U.S. investment firm had stopped sending the credit union statements about the worth of Wladyka's portfolio.
The credit union told Wladyka he had to come up with some other security for his line of credit and he had to secure it before the credit union's annual audit, court heard.
Rudko's concern about her missing T5 got bank regulators and the Manitoba Securities Commission involved. They froze all of Wladyka's accounts. His investments were ravaged when the stock market collapsed. He had to give up his home valued at $500,000, his lawyer Tim Valgardson said.
Wladyka helped all of his clients get reimbursed by providing the insurer for the company he'd worked for with a list of their names and what they were owed, Valgardson said.
Before the economic bubble burst, Wladyka believed he was doing what was best for clients, pooling their money and investing it at a higher rate of return in the U.S., said Valgardson.
Some of his clients knew Wladyka was doing it -- it was just that none of the victims thought it was their money invested in the unsecured, risky pool, he said.
Valgardson said Wladyka had no criminal record and was a longtime volunteer with the Christmas Cheer Board. He pointed to dozens of letters from community groups thanking Wladyka and his former employer, Dundee Wealth Management, for donating Goldeyes tickets to disadvantaged youth.
The judge said Wladyka established a position of trust, then abused it. He lied to clients, who wanted secure investments, not to be a part of Wladyka's playing in a volatile market.
"They wanted low risk. They were right, you were wrong," Cameron told Wladyka. The late Rudko -- a widow and a philanthropist -- spent her last years dealing with the stress and fallout from Wladyka's con, the judge said. Rudko testified before the Manitoba Securities Commission and gave a statement to police.
"To add insult to injury, she had to hire a lawyer" to fight to get her money back before she died in 2009, the judge said.
She made sure Wladyka will do the time and pay for his crime. He's ordered to pay $3.3 million in restitution to Dundee Wealth Management, and almost $2.3 million to TD Canada Trust, for reimbursing the victims for their losses.
"I will do my very best to deal with that when that situation arises," Wladyka told the court quickly and without emotion. His common-law wife, two grown sons and a handful of supporters were in court for his sentencing.
"The situation was devastating for many people and I was the cause of that," Wladyka said.
Dayton frustrates business leaders - Bemidji Pioneer
MINNEAPOLIS — Many in Minnesota’s business community were pleased with the Legislature’s performance during the 2012 legislative session, but they are frustrated with Gov. Mark Dayton for scuttling some of their biggest goals.
Dayton closed the book on the session by vetoing a largely Republican written bill that would have provided property tax relief for small businesses, as well as increasing tax credits for research and development and to those who invest in start-up stage companies.
“It was a priority for the business community,” said Laura Bordelon, senior vice president of advocacy with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. “The veto is a complete disappointment.”
It was the second time in May that Dayton vetoed a tax-relief bill. He also previously nixed an education reform measure that would have removed seniority as the main factor in laying off teachers.
“We had some challenges with the governor this year,” Bordelon said.
Dayton, in a letter explaining his tax veto, wrote that Republicans, who have majorities in the House and Senate, passed the bill without consulting his administration and expressed concern that the bill increased future projected deficits. Republicans say Dayton would not meet with them.
“It retains a large imbalance between its significant business tax reductions and virtually no tax relief for anyone else: homeowners, renters, senior citizens and farmers,” Dayton wrote.
That explanation did not satisfy Bordelon or Charlie Weaver, executive director of the Minnesota Business Partnership, both of whom said Republican lawmakers incorporated many of Dayton’s suggestions into the reworked bill.
Those measures included a tax credit for businesses that hire veterans and incentives for hiring interns. The bill also would have provided thousands of jobs through the altering of tax increment financing rules regarding a proposed expansion at the Mall of America.
“It is mystifying to me why he vetoed it,” Weaver said. “I don’t understand it.”
Still, business supporters say the business community still got some of what it wanted.
For the second year in a row, the Legislature and Dayton worked to streamline the state’s permitting process and passed a public works spending bill that is expected to create jobs for trade workers. The chamber also was happy with education reform bills requiring teachers to pass skills tests and linking principal evaluations to test results.
Weaver touted the Vikings stadium construction bill as important in ensuring the team’s future. He called efforts in some districts to punish Republicans who supported the bill by pulling their endorsements “really dumb” and said building a stadium now was more fiscally conservative than waiting another year or losing the franchise and paying considerably more for a stadium later.
“The ability to recruit top executive talent to the state requires that we remain a first-class town,” he said. “Investments in theater, music, parks and pro sports all go hand in hand. Losing an NFL franchise would have been a significant blow.”
Over two years, Weaver said, the Legislature was successful in turning a $6 billion deficit into a $1 billion surplus without raising taxes.
“For the business community that was job one,” he said.
The Minnesota Business Partnership expects to deal with health care issues once the Supreme Court decides on the legality of President Barack Obama’s reform efforts. Weaver said reforming taxes and education also will remain priorities.
“The focus on our agenda is going to be how do we keep Minnesota competitive in this global economy,” he said. “Right now we are not competitive.”
——
Ken Warner, president of the Willmar Chamber of Commerce, praised the Legislature for not doing anything to make the climate more difficult for business owners and celebrated the bonding bill, which contained nearly $14 million for designing and renovating buildings at Ridgewater College.
Going forward he’d like to see the Legislature move past partisanship bickering, working for the betterment of the state “and not so strong on party and special interest.”
“The economy is finally starting to move a bit,” he said. “We’d like to do everything we can to keep it moving forward and not put the brakes on.”
Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland was disappointed with Dayton’s veto of the first tax bill because it included a property tax exclusion on the first $200,000 spent on the construction of new homes in Moorhead and Dilworth. That would have matched a similar clause across the border in Fargo. He said he will work to advance that again next year.
“That’s going to be something that I feel is going to be problematic for us,” he said. “It’s not going to help our building trades. That’s the biggest downside I saw.”
While many business groups are frustrated with the governor, Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce President David Ross was appreciative of the efforts Dayton and the area’s Democratic legislators put forth in helping secure funding for the Multimodal Transportation Center.
The project needed $6 million in state funds to go with other federal and private funding. The project was not specifically included in the public works bill, but ultimately was included as part of an allocation toward “Greater Minnesota Transit.”
“We did receive the funding we needed so we’re very excited about that,” Ross said.
Ross added that he is hopeful a $4 million request for funding Wade Stadium, an aging baseball park in Duluth, will be covered by another pot of money. He also said he was happy the Legislature and Dayton worked together to pass stronger regulations against synthetic drugs.
The only disappointment in Ross’ eyes was the Legislature’s inability to find money to pay back money borrowed from schools over the last few years.
“Our district is struggling mightily,” Ross said. “That would have been a great respite to them.”
Andrew Tellijohn is a Twin Cities freelance writer.
WPN Business Alliance Rally Announces “Meet the Media” Luncheon Panel and Spotlight Breakout Speakers - PR.com
The catered “Meet the Media Luncheon” runs from 12:15 to 1:30pm inside the McKimmon Center. The panel will focus on helping luncheon attendees understand today’s media choices in developing marketing plans for their business. Panel members are: Alex McTighe, National Sales Manager, Curtis Media Group (radio); Barbara Petty, Owner/Publisher, Boom! Magazine; Matthew Donegan, General Sales Manager, Fox 50 TV; William Ammerman, Sales and Marketing Manager, WRAL.com; and James Wong, Co-founder/Partner, Empowered Ideas. Luncheon tickets include event entry and are $25 in advance online at http://WPNMedia.eventbrite.com and $35 at the door.
The 14 Spotlight! Speakers are industry experts leading 24 breakout sessions. Featured speakers are: Julie Alexander, Michele Howe Clarke, Danielle Cooley, Bill Davis, Sharon Cole Edler, Connie Holstein, Clare Luffman, Diana Needham, Olalah Njenga, Dr. Joanne Pizzino, Kristin Springfield, Geanine Thompson, Honey Beth Wiggs, and Sherrie Wilkolaski. The one-hour private breakouts will be at 11 am, 2 pm and 4 pm. Each speaker will present at two different times in one of eight designated rooms. Attendees can choose from marketing, relationship building, personal development, book publishing and promotion, health and wellness, managing an in-home business, how to become an expert in your field, developing endless prospects, and financial management and investment. For topic titles, presentation times and location, go to: http://www.wpn-bar.com/Breakout__Speakers.html
Marilyn Shannon, co-founder of Women's Power Networking and facilitator of the “Meet the Media Luncheon” added, “The Business Alliance Rally is intended for everyone. It provides a chance for businesses to network with one another, sell their products and services, learn how to be more successful, and expand their alliances; fulfilling the promise of Women's Power Networking: "Alliances for Business–Alliances for Life."
About Women’s Power Networking (WPN)
Founded originally as Coffee and Contacts in 2007, Women's Power Networking "Alliances for Business - Alliances for Life" is a growing, national women's business referral network. WPN is the umbrella organization for Power Lunches, the Women Executives Roundtable and the after hours networking event, Cocktails and Contacts. Weekly Coffee and Contacts chapter meetings offer women a positive environment to grow personally and professionally. The WPN Speakers Bureau arranges professional keynote and business speakers for conferences, business meetings, retreats or galas. Visit: http://www.WomensPowerNetworking.com
Media Contact:
Eileen Batson
919.413.2318
Eileen@BGMPR.com
Batson Group Marketing and PR
Local business - Medford Mail Tribune
E.N. Lippert Co. is expanding flooring store to Grants Pass
E.N. Lippert Co. will open a No Frills Flooring store in Grants Pass in June.
The Medford-based business will move into a 7,000-square-foot space and employ four in Grants Pass Shopping Center, 1100 N.E. E St.
The original No Frills Flooring store on Rossanley Drive in Medford opened in 1996. Lippert Co. also owns and operates Lipperts Carpet One stores in Medford and Grants Pass.
Reverse mortgage class will be offered Tuesday, May 22
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Oregon is offering a reverse mortgage class on Tuesday, May 22. Reverse mortgages are for people 62 years or older who want to tap into the equity of their homes. The class begins at 5 p.m. at 820 Crater Lake Ave., Suite 202, Medford.
The registration fee is $10 per person. Pre-registration is required. Call 541-779-2273.
Compiled from staff reports
Local small-business loans on the rise - Las Vegas Review Journal
Funding of Small Business Administration 504 loans provided through the Nevada State Development Corp. increased to $8.5 million in the second quarter, up 31 percent from the year-ago period, the nonprofit company reports.
The next three months should reflect even stronger growth with 17 loans for about $11.4 million, said Debra Alexandre, president of Nevada State Development Corp.
The increase in the number of loans and funding is a good barometer for Nevada's economy, she said. SBA 504 loans provide as much as 90 percent of funding for businesses to expand at rates that are typically below market. The money is used to purchase real estate, expand existing facilities or buy new equipment.
The delinquency rate in Nevada State Development Corp.'s loan portfolio decreased significantly from a year ago, another good indication that the economy is improving, Alexandre said.
"I'm pretty optimistic. From the numbers in the second quarter, it looks like it's going to be a good summer," she said.
"From our point of view, the remainder of this year looks like it's going to be better than the first half and significantly better than last year," she said.
NSDC has received 25 new loan packages totaling $18.2 million, nearly three times the amount from a year ago, the president said.
Businesses seeking financing include automotive service centers, restaurants, telecommunications and law firms. Health care remains strong, even through the recession.
"Our demand is way up," Alexandre said. "Those are new applications. Some will happen, and some will not, but it definitely indicates there's more demand for our loan product."
SBA 504 loans are provided for small businesses with a net worth of less than $15 million, and after-tax net income of less than $5 million, she said. Applications are processed quickly, in some cases preapproved within a day.
"We're seeing a definite improvement in the approval process," she said. "Things have picked up in our portfolio."
Established in 1981 with offices in Las Vegas and Reno, the Nevada State Development Corp. has funded more than 1,429 loans with an estimated combined value of $620 million.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.
Valley business on the brink - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The lack of a plan across communities hampers development and mires daily life with traffic hassles and long slogs between housing, shopping and work. Development that does come may be haphazard.
“There are so many infrastructure issues that are coming to light now. Developers can go to another town and have it all ready,” said Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jeannie Hebert, who spearheads economic development in the valley.
“What we're talking about here is (an opportunity for) development by choice, not by chance,” said Vera L. Kolias, principal planner for the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, or CMRPC.
CMRPC launched a Blackstone Valley Prioritization Project this spring, focusing on identifying economic development, transportation, workforce and preservation priorities in eight of 11 towns in the Blackstone Valley. Grafton, Upton and Hopedale were included in a similar project CMRPC recently undertook with the 495/MetroWest Development Compact.
Lawrence B. Adams, CMRPC executive director, said that coordinated, regional plans for development would be most likely to get state and federal grants that can make or break a project. “The state's role is to identify where their investments will have the best return,” he said.
CMRPC staff and partners from the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce and the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission are meeting over the next few weeks with planning boards and officials in Sutton, Mendon, Northbridge, Douglas, Uxbridge and Blackstone to target priority areas in their towns. More regional events, including a public forum to bring together the issues from each town, will be held in June.
While planners talk of traffic corridors, spot locations, expedited permitting and infrastructure — words that make the average citizen's eyes glaze over — it comes down to quality of life.
Job creation, for example, creates more travel and congestion if people don't have public transportation or housing nearby; and if you build housing, you have to provide for services that families who live in those houses need, explained Mr. Adams. At the same time, you don't want to harm the character of small towns.
These impacts of growth cross town lines.
Shopping is one of the regional needs both created by and affecting growth.
Cold Spring Brook Place, a mixed-use retail parcel that would include a grocery store and bank, has sat undeveloped along Route 146 in Sutton for a decade, an example of hurdles facing business development. Originally delayed by lack of water and sewer and the costly requirements for roadway improvements, and then a victim of the economy and the former developer's bankruptcy, the site may get a boost soon.
Two years ago, the state committed to funding $6 million to widen the road and improve traffic flow on that section of Route 146, removing one major headache from a new developer.
Jennifer S. Hager, planning director for Sutton, said a purchase and sale agreement was recently signed for Cold Spring Brook Place.
“It's basically about state funding,” Ms. Hager said about the benefits of looking at development from a regional perspective. “Now the developer doesn't have to shell out $6 million worth of improvements.
“The regional impact (of Cold Spring Brook Place) put it in line for funding, so the state gets the biggest bang for the buck. The (Blackstone Valley Prioritization) project will identify areas like that.”
Michael G. DeCaro, president and CEO of Classic Envelope Inc., has been counting on regional development support since he moved his business from the Whitinsville section of Northbridge across Route 146 to Douglas last month, a move that allowed him to add at least 25 new jobs. A crucial element to bringing in the infrastructure Classic Envelope requires, including natural gas, sewerage and larger water lines, is a plan to build a road between Gilboa Street, near his plant in the former Hayward-Schuster mill and Whitins Road in Sutton, across from the Sutton Industrial Park.
Once the road is built, “Then you get gas lines, sewer lines, you can bring in an industrial park and bring in jobs for people; hopefully transit, too,” Mr. DeCaro said.
The West Side Connector Road, as the plan is called, would open up 300 acres of industrial and office-zoned land in Douglas and Sutton, without changing the rural character of the towns. It has received preliminary approval from the Sutton, Douglas and Northbridge planning boards and conservation commissions, according to Douglas Town Engineer William Cundiff, but the towns are waiting for a cost estimate from consulting engineers. There are other pieces of putting together a multitown project that need to occur before grants can be sought, too, and the process, according to Mr. DeCaro, is frustratingly slow.
Craig L. Blais, president and CEO of Worcester Business Development Corporation, said his nonprofit organization has offered to work with the towns like it did with developing CenTech Park in Grafton and Shrewsbury. He said a project like this “needs someone to quarterback it, to get up everyday to pursue grants.
“That's one area that we could make a difference in.”
Mr. Blais said that having a regional development “roadmap” that is expected to come out of the Blackstone Valley Prioritization Project will be useful in grant requests to show that both private developers and local communities will benefit from a project.
“Coming into a community knowing that this process has occurred adds to predictability,” Ms. Kolias said. “Time is money.”
Ms. Hebert said, “This project is going to open doors to a lot of communities.”
CMRPC plans to conduct a similar project later this summer with 13 towns arcing around Worcester from Southbridge to Boylston.
A schedule of Blackstone Valley Prioritization Project public meetings can be found at www.cmrpc.org.
.
Rare Earth Stocks from the US Showing Promise,” Says New AbsoluteWealth.com Article - PRWeb
Rare Earth Riches AbsoluteWealth.com
Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 19, 2012
US rare earth stocks are turning out to be more valuable than anyone could have imagined, according to today’s AbsoluteWealth.com article. Even though China has dominated rare earth production for the last decade, one specific mine could be the key factor in loosening America’s and other country’s dependence on the Far East for these significantly important metals.
The mine in question is Mountain Pass, a 2,200-acre site in California, just 60 miles across the border from Las Vegas. Just a little over a decade ago, the article said that Mountain Pass was the largest rare earth-producing mine in the world.
Things shifted to the Eastern Hemisphere, as China began producing rare earths at breakneck speed and eventually began to provide the vast majority of the world’s supply. A rare earth stocks list rarely included a successful American company in the past ten years, said the Absolute Wealth article. The scenario is fully explained in Absolute Wealth’s Special Report “Rare Earth Riches: How to Cash In On China’s ‘Dirty’ Secret.”
China continued its head-of-the-line position for years, rendering the Mountain Pass mine nearly obsolete. The article said competition and low prices mixed with environmental concerns over the extraction and production process led Mountain Pass to shut down in 2002. For eight years, the mine sat empty and silent.
In July of 2010 the Mountain Pass mine was purchased by Molycorp, who vowed to revamp the production methods and make them far more environmentally conscious. Mining operations have presumed, and Molycorp stands at the starting gate of a race to meet global rare earth demands, said AbsoluteWealth.com.
From its discovery in the late 1940s, to its heyday of production from the 1960s to the 1980s, to its closure, and now its reopening, the Mountain Pass mine is a perfect representation of the rare earth story.
All this makes investing in rare earths a worthy endeavor, especially with the American companies emerging as major players, said the article. Molycorp can serve as an example, and the Mountain Pass reopening can serve as a blueprint for a winning rare earth production strategy.
Absolute Wealth is an expert team of real investors and advisors devoted to identifying winning strategies for exceptional returns. Members subscribe to the Independent Wealth Alliance for professional investment analysis and recommendations on the latest trends and progressions. For more information and subscription instructions, visit AbsoluteWealth.com.
Knowing what kind of investments hold the most potential is easier with “Rare Earth Riches,” which is why Absolute Wealth is releasing it to their subscribing members. The rare earth stocks in the US with the means and resources to affect the investment market are coming out from behind the curtain, and the Special Report explains why.
No comments:
Post a Comment