Alberta men charged in alleged $23M Concrete Equities fraud

Two Alberta men accused of bilking 1,300 Canadian investors out of more than $23 million face fraud and theft charges.

RCMP allege the men behind Calgary-basedConcrete Equities promised investors returns of more than 500 per cent if they purchased a stake in undeveloped beach property in Mexico.

• Concrete Equities penalties total $5.6M
• Concrete investors seek answers

The 1,300 investors included people from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

The RCMP's financial integrity unit alleges the men diverted money to other businesses and stole investors' money before the companywent into receivership in 2009.

Dave Humeniuk of St. Albert faces charges of fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000 and money laundering, and is to appear in court Feb. 27.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Varun Aurora, who faces fraud and theft charges, and may be out of the country.