Charles DeBono pleads guilty to fraud over $5,000 and laundering money; Hundreds of people bought in to the tune of $40 million to $48 million between 2012 and 2017
A Barrie man has pleaded guilty to using a local mechanic’s shop as a base to defraud investors of millions of dollars which he then used to buy luxury cars and property in Canada and the Dominican Republic.
Forensic accountants figured Canadians and investors from elsewhere lost somewhere between $23 million to $41 million, likely closer to the higher end.
When Charles DeBono, 62, was arrested in the Dominican Republic during the height of the pandemic in September 2020, he had fake identification for the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, had real estate and luxury cars and had built a resort in the Dominican Republic, a Barrie court heard on Thursday.
During a virtual hearing from Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, DeBono pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 dating back to 2012 and laundering money.
Court heard the Barrie man had regular middle-class jobs, including in the local used car industry, before creating Kis Media Ventures in 2012, which served as an umbrella organization for illicit companies, including Debit Direct, a point-of-sale terminal ownership program.
Reading from the agreed statement of facts, Crown prosecutor Ted Ofiara said there was no evidence that any machines were ever placed in businesses and hundreds of investors from across the country and…
