Crime didn’t pay for Arnold Breitkreutz, the now-disgraced Calgary businessman who orchestrated one of Alberta’s most devastating Ponzi schemes.
An Alberta appeals court has upheld his 10-year prison sentence, effectively sealing the fate of the 74-year-old fraudster who bilked more than 100 investors out of more than $100 million over more than three decades.
Breitkreutz, convicted in 2022, had challenged his conviction, claiming that his trial lawyer lacked the necessary experience and that the judge made legal errors.
But Alberta’s Court of Appeal dismissed those arguments, finding the trial fundamentally fair and the evidence properly assessed. The appeal’s rejection means Breitkreutz, already in custody since his conviction, is unlikely to walk free again.
Operating through his company, Base Financial, Breitkreutz promised clients safe, first-position mortgages.
Instead, their money was funnelled into a high-risk oil venture in Texas, secured by little more than oil leases and equipment. The scheme, which ran for over three decades, culminated in a 17-month period between 2014 and 2015 during which more than $21 million was fraudulently raised.
In a scathing 20-page ruling, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby found Breitkreutz knowingly misled investors, many of whom were retirees trusting him with their life savings. “Mr. Breitkreutz knew he was gambling with his investors’ money in ways… they did not understand and had not agreed to,” Feasby wrote.
During sentencing, the Crown described the fraud as “among the worst ever perpetrated in Alberta,” and sought 10 to 12 years in prison.
According to the Alberta Securities Commission, “the findings against Breitkreutz place his misconduct among the most egregious known to the capital market.”
Breitkreutz’s lawyers argued that he was simply trying to recover lost money and didn’t act out of greed.
The Alberta Securities Commission previously slapped Breitkreutz and his associate, Susan Elizabeth Way, with $4 million in penalties and permanently banned them from the securities market.
Way, who served as Base Financial’s office manager, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2023.
The RCMP Commercial Crime Branch estimates fraud costs Canadians between $10 billion to $30 billion annually.
In 2023, Albertans lost over $62.5 million to various fraud schemes, up from $11.3 million in 2020. Investment scams, particularly cryptocurrency frauds, accounted for more than half of the reported losses.
