A Victoria financial investor who disappeared in 2015 — allegedly with a large sum of his clients’ money — has turned himself into police.
Harold Backer, a mutual fund investor, went missing on Nov. 3, 2015 after he told his family he was going for a bike ride but never returned. Letters Backer sent to his clients and published by the Victoria Times-Colonist show Backer admitting to running a “pyramid investment.”
“Even though I still consider the missing money in my corporation’s investment funds as my personal debt, I realize there is no way in my lifetime that I could pay it back to my investors. My path through these decisions is unconscionable, and I am deeply and truly sorry for the effects of my poor decisions,” Backer wrote in the letters.
Shortly after his disappearance, Victoria Police financial crime investigators launched a probe into Backer’s business, My Financial Backer Corporation, and Backer.
Police say Backer came into police headquarters on Thursday afternoon and was held in custody overnight. He now faces two counts of fraud over $5,000 and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on April 18.
In a series of tweets, police thanked Port Angeles Police and U.S. and international law enforcement partners for their work on the investigation.
Financial and major crime detectives are continuing to work on the case.
Backer was previously known to the public after rowing for Canada in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games.