CALGARY- The money is finally starting to flow in for investors who put their money into a real estate company before it collapsed.
Helen and Allan Entwistle are just some of the people who invested in Concrete Equities before the 2008 downturn combined with mismanagement destroyed the company.
The Innisfail couple was just about to retire when Concrete Equities went under, tying up their $400,000 investment.
“We found out the money was not coming in as it should have, and of course that’s when the thing blew apart,” Allan Entwistle explains.
The executive team was accused of securities violations and fined $5.6 million. Neglected properties like office towers and malls were left behind, and a court appointed Avenue Commercial to clean them up.
“The properties were sort of languishing,” explains Steve Butt, president of Avenue Commercial. “They weren’t being run very well. They were in a poor state of repair, a lot of vacancies in the properties and the market had taken a downturn.”
Years of hard work paid off, and investors are finally getting some of their money back in the form of dividend cheques. $5.6 million was handed out in 2013, and $4 million this year.
“We can’t believe that our life is set free,” said a happy Helen Entwistle . “We’re able to do what we want to do now. Our retirement is wonderful.”
Investors have been told they can now expect quarterly payments.
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