AAAAAAAAAAIIIYYYYY!!!!!
TUESDAY
Screaming with delight, six-year-old Risa Murdoch (left) and eight-year-old Jaime Saunders hang on for dear life as they take a weekend spin on the Sizzler ride at the West Coast Amusements carnival at Aberdeen Mall. To view more photos, go online to kamloopsthisweek.com and click on “Community”. Allen Douglas/KTW
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
ONLINE ALL THE TIME: BREAKING NEWS AND UPDATES AT KAMLOOPSTHISWEEK.COM Tuesday, April 24, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 33 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
At least eight duped by local financial planner By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
It was February of 2010 and Carol had just gone through a divorce. She received a financial settlement — enough to pay her daughter’s tuition fees and keep $10,000 set aside for a down payment on a house. Carol gave the $10,000 to her financial planner, Ed Chieduch — someone she trusted and considered a friend. When it came time to put an offer on a house, neither Chieduch nor the money were anywhere to be found.
Margaret was a 60-year-old woman living in Kamloops and she had $100,000 she was looking to invest. Chieduch took her money, saying it would go into a high-yield realestate fund. When Margaret died in 2010, her daughter contacted Chieduch, looking to collect the cash. What she received instead was an IOU. In August of 2008, Matthew was a 28-year-old entrepreneur. Chieduch, someone Matthew had known for a long time, approached him and said he had a great investment opportunity.
Matthew handed over $20,000 and signed a contract for a two-year term, not thinking much of it. When Matthew noticed his dividend payments weren’t coming through, he called Chieduch, who blamed the mix-up on a secretary who had been “stealing the money.” That was another lie. Chieduch, 58, has admitted in court to eight separate investment frauds — including the three listed above. (KTW spoke with a number of Chieduch’s eight victims. Carol, Margaret and Matthew are not the actual names of the people involved in the stories detailed above.)
ALL IN STOCK
EYES
In April 2011, Chieduch was charged with eight counts of fraud over $5,000. Last month, during a brief appearance in a Kamloops courtroom, he pleaded guilty to a single amended count covering each of the eight offences. He is due back in court next month to set a date for sentencing. None of the circumstances of Chieduch’s offences have been read in court — that will take place during his sentencing hearing. Despite that, KTW has obtained a lengthy collection of court documents — in addition to victim interviews — outlining some of his tactics.
Chieduch, who did business as Chieduch Financial, with an office inside a Victoria Street building, was apparently a trusted financial advisor. Licensed as an insurance salesman — that certification was yanked in 2010, when allegations regarding the frauds began to come to light — he oversaw the investment of large amounts of money on his clients’ behalf. Court records show Chieduch’s frauds began in 2005, but those close to him believe shady investments had been going on for some time before then. X See HOT OPPORTUNITY A4
SUNGLASSES
20-50% OFF INTERNATIONAL
331 Victoria Street
25O-851-8992
Voted Kamloops’ Best Optical Store e
SIGHT TESTING! Free with purchase. Call For Details