Another Businessman robs the people blind with Government help

News Item: Peter Pocklington arrested for Bankruptcy Fraud

With all the attention down south on American Captains of Industry stealing money whilst authorities followed the lead of the Absent President and did nothing, I thought it would be quaint to remember just one of Alberta's own high profile robbers. Back in the 80s as a car dealer(perfect) he would divert money from the Ford Financing wing into his own pet projects. Kind of Fargo-esque. But when things started going south, he secured a 10 million dollar loan to his worthless Fidelity Trust shell company. His buddy buddy relationship with Alberta's public held bank, ATB, in concert with showering its highest employees with skiing and golf holidays managed to run up a never ending line of credit totaling over 100 million of Alberta's dollars by the 1990s. Not to mention the 12 million dollar loan guarantee he secured for his failed meat packing plant that he never re-payed. When Fidelity Trust finally failed, it secured another 300 million from the public purse.
A useful quote from his personal website:

• If you can't win, change the rules!
• If you can't change the rules, ignore them

These quotes were intended to brand him as a leader with a creative business acumen who wasn't afraid to think outside the box. His main page notes his 3 divisions are food, sports, and "other." We now know that "other" means stealing public money abetted by public officials.
Anyway, added to his list of business laws is the following, when authorities are hot on your heels, flee the country. Which he did. To California. But after telling bankruptcy officials that he only had 2900 dollars in assets, (really? did that include the 800 dollar suit he was wearing at the time?) he was later seen repaying a local debt with $80,000 worth of art he retrieved from a storage locker. Oh yeah, and he drew cheques from 2 different bank accounts he forgot to mention to bankruptcy court! Meanwhile the Alberta government, or more accurately, those who weren't paid off by Pocklington in the 80s and 90s, are down in California trying to get some of the peoples' money back.

Here's a picture of Pocklington's tax lawyer Mike Lusby, who looks every inch the scumbag parasite. Photo courtesy his own website.



Pocklington's tax lawyer Mike Lusby (who makes $1000/hour except from clients who obviously only have $2900 to their name and therefore couldn't possibly afford such rates???!!!) defended Pocklington by claiming that it was a witch hunt.
He's right, it is a witch hunt. And this witch owes us millions of dollars.

In the media's newest story arc, the business tycoon gone bad, I hope it can find the time to expose the regulators and the bankers and the public officeholders who handed these robber barons their fortunes.