Lawyer's request rejected, Jones told to leave Dorval condo
As of tomorrow the once high-flying Bertram Earl Jones will officially be homeless.
The man who once owned four properties in two countries, three cars, membership at the oldest golf club in North America and a lifestyle that included lavish wining and dining, will be evicted from the Dorval condo he has been living in since being charged with theft and fraud on July 28.
Despite an 11th-hour request from his lawyer sent to trustees late Tuesday night asking that Jones be allowed to stay in the condo at 870 Lakeshore Rd. until the end of the month, attendees at yesterday's credit meeting gave an overwhelming thumbs-down to any leniency.
"We would like him removed from the condo on Sept. 11, without exception," said Kevin Curran, son of an alleged Jones victim, and a member of a committee working with RSM Richter.
Bankruptcy trustees have been given keys to three other properties owned either jointly by Jones and his wife, Maxine, or by Maxine alone. All four properties will be handed over to real-estate agents to be put up for sale in the coming weeks.
Jones did not show up at the creditors' meeting, the first since he was declared personally bankrupt on Aug. 19.
The trustee handling both Jones's corporate and personal bankruptcy issued figures yesterday, first reported by The Gazette in July, that Jones's four properties, in Dorval, Mont Tremblant, Boca Raton, Fla. and Cape Cod, Mass., are worth $1.6 million and mortgaged for almost $1 million.
Gilles Robillard, representing trustee RSM Richter, told the assembled alleged victims that all accounts owned by Maxine Jones have been frozen as have her husband's.
Regarding missing bank statements from 1999 to 2008, Robillard said his firm has received six boxes of documents from the Royal Bank of Canada and expects another seven boxes next week.
Other highlights of yesterday's meeting from the trustee:
Subpoenas will be issued to the former employees of Earl Jones and his wife, and on Sept. 16, the trustees expect to begin interviewing these people.
Anyone who received drafts or payments from Jones will also be interviewed to better understand where the money went.
Based on the documents received since the last creditors' meeting on Aug. 18, it appears Jones has been using client funds for personal use since the mid-1980s, possibly up to the level of $20 million from previous estimates of $12.3 million.
The bookkeeper Jones used was not a certified public accountant or was there ever an audit done of the books of Earl Jones Corporation.
151 claims have been filed against Jones by creditors so far, representing a total of $74.5 million.
After his personal bankruptcy judgment last month, the trustee advised Jones and his lawyer that he was required to pay rent for staying in a property he no longer owned. There was no reply to this request.
"I'm not sure what they will do, change the locks as of Sept. 11?" asked Peter Kent, whose mother is an alleged victim
"If he's not out on Friday we will take whatever measures it takes to get him to leave," Robillard said.
asutherland@thegazette.canwest.com
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