Harry Snoek Jr. says he is hustling for business opportunities in the Middle East so that he can pay back the millions entrusted to him by a tight-knit community of Dutch Canadians.
Snoek – the financier who absconded with the life savings of 86-year-old carpenter John Kolkman, retired farmer Gerald Korten and at least 80 others – has surfaced in the Netherlands after media outlets there picked up his trail of empty promises first detailed in the Toronto Star on Saturday.
He told a Dutch radio station Monday he is the victim of a smear campaign and to the country's largest newspaper, Telegraaf, he said:
"The money is not gone. We are working on a proposal to at least pay out half of what is owed. I can prove that all the money has been invested in the businesses and that not a penny went to me."
Snoek has refused repeated interview requests from the Star.
By the latest tally of those who have come forward to the Star and who are trying in Ontario courts to recoup losses, the number of affected investors may be as high as 200, their losses as high as $34 million.
The Star investigation found the elderly Dutch Canadians trusted Snoek with their hard-earned cash.
They thought he was using it to develop commercial land in Milton.
A review of Snoek's records and assets, prepared by a major accounting firm and obtained by the Star, showed more than $20 million left Canada since 2004, including $6 million for a yacht and $10.8 million to Snoek.
The Star interviewed many sources who have invested or worked with the man and who spoke of his penchant for fine watches, cars and paintings.
A former employee said he had seen Snoek's silver Bentley in the garage of his house in the Netherlands. The Star investigation quickly spread through several Dutch news outlets before Snoek started talking.
Snoek told Radio Netherlands Worldwide – a station popular with Dutch expatriates – that he does not have a yacht or Bentley coupe for private use.
This may mean Snoek has sold or lost ownership of both luxury vehicles, or that he still owns the yacht, named Ladies First, and rents it out to other boaters.
In his interview with the Telegraaf, Snoek said he is the victim of the global financial crisis, and also invested money – seven million euros – in a shipyard that went bankrupt when the market for super yachts collapsed.
He told the radio news outlet that he sees no need to come to Canada right now and that he expects his investors will get at least half their money back.
"Bloody lie," said investor Bill Van Ryn, 74, of Georgetown, who lost $750,000. "He's promised everything under the sun. It's all hogwash."
Troubling payment delays and equivocations from Snoek started in 2007. He exploited ties to church and motherland to ease anxieties and keep investors' money. He stopped interest and principal payments altogether in late 2008.
Investors say he has been unreachable since the middle of 2009.
"He said, 'You can always get me on my cellphone.' Ah, baloney," Van Ryn said.
"He said, 'My wife is always home.' She doesn't answer the phone either. He's stalling and hopes things will go away. If he is so sincere, why doesn't he address the people himself? Last time I talked to him was in June 2009."
Snoek went to the Middle East, "the one place there is still money," he told the Dutch newspaper. "This past year, I have worked really hard to make deals that would allow me to pay back money."
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