Donny Lalonde, a former boxing champion once known as Winnipeg's "Golden Boy," has drawn the ire of more than two dozen investors who say he didn't deliver on real estate projects in Costa Rica.

Lalonde's name appears in a complex set of companies and real estate developments detailed in the Panama Papers — a leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal records from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, shared by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with CBC News and the Toronto Star in Canada.

Former Winnipeg boxer Donny Lalonde fights Sugar Ray Leonard in 1988 in Las Vegas. (CBC) A former world light-heavyweight boxing champ, Lalonde became a household name after a 1988 fight in Las Vegas when he faced Sugar Ray Leonard and took home a multimillion-dollar paycheque. After some failed real estate ventures in British Columbia, Lalonde moved to Costa Rica and eventually went bankrupt in Canada in 2004. He was discharged from bankruptcy on Jan. 15, 2005.

That same year, public records show he became the manager or president of 38 companies set up in Costa Rica.

About two years after the bankruptcy was finished, a Mossack Fonseca document described Lalonde on July 31, 2007, as having a net worth of around $3 million US, with most of that invested in his real estate projects.

The Panama Papers also show that as part of that net worth Lalonde held $600,000 US in a Panamanian savings account in 2007 and controlled holding companies in Panama.

Public records show Lalonde is currently the head of 53 companies in Costa Rica.

Lalonde told CBC News that most of the companies he is listed as heading are either dormant or are no longer his. He said, "It may appear I had so many companies in Costa Rica right after the completion of the bankruptcy process. I was not necessarily the beneficiary of those companies. I can assure you I was not."

As far as his reported net worth in 2007, Lalonde said he "got lucky on timing in the Costa Rica market."

As CBC News investigated Lalonde's companies in the Panama Papers, news of the difficulties with his real estate developments surfaced.

Investors seek legal action

A group of investors, some of them in Canada and the U.S., are trying to initiate legal action against Lalonde in Costa Rica to recoup money they say they invested in real estate projects he was promoting in the Central American country.

A lawyer representing the unhappy investors, Jeannette Salazar Araya, said 29 of about 40 investors in the El Escape and Howler Ridge developments Lalonde was promoting are involved in seeking legal action.

In an email to Costa Rica news service DataBaseAR, Salazar Araya alleged it is estimated Lalonde received approximately $3.5 million in investments.

"Some of the funds entered Costa Rican bank accounts and others went through Panamanian bank accounts," Salazar Araya said.

None of their allegations have been proven and Lalonde said he is unaware of any court case against him. The investors' lawyer said the alleged victims have to provide justification of money transfers and other proof of their claims, or there may not be enough evidence to proceed.

Daphne Buhlert says she has nothing to show for a $55,000 US investment she made through Lalonde in a Costa Rican real estate project. (CBC) "I have nothing, except interest payments," said British Columbia resident Daphne Buhlert, in an interview with CBC News, describing the investment she financed through a line of credit on her home in B.C.

In 2007, she invested $55,000 US through Lalonde in a company called Daphne de Oriente Limitada.

She said she met Lalonde in Costa Rica in 2004 while living there and became friends with him and his family.

She signed a contract with Lalonde for two lots in the El Escape development he was promoting with partners. When years passed and she didn't see any progress on her investment, she relied on her contract to ask for her money back.

That didn't happen. She's now among the investors hoping to initiate a court action against Lalonde in Costa Rica.

"I feel very betrayed. I thought we had a wonderful friendship — I truly did. And I feel duped. Completely taken advantage of," Buhlert said. "Really sad, really angry."

A visit to the area by the Toronto Star last month showed the El Escape land is a dust bowl. The development never got off the ground.

'Nothing to be concerned about'

Lalonde said he has done nothing wrong and doesn't owe investors any money.

"I have nothing to be concerned about. That's why I'm sitting here talking to you," Lalonde said in an interview in Malta, where he now lives.

He blamed difficulty getting water services for the land and international events for delays in building his projects.

"The world financial crisis. In Costa Rica it went from, you couldn't keep your land because they were offering you so much money that you were a fool not to sell it, to you couldn't give it away, literally," he said.

Responding to the fact that Buhlert borrowed money against her house in Canada to make the investment in Costa Rica, Lalonde said, "It's tragic. It's sad," he said. "She didn't give that money to me. She invested it in a company."

"It went into the project, 100 per cent. And there was a real estate commission," Lalonde said.

The El Escape development in Costa Rica where Daphne Buhlert made an investment in 2007 has yet to be completed. (Toronto Star) "Daphne's a sweetheart. She just doesn't get it. Her money went there, she gets a piece of land," Lalonde explained. "She doesn't want land any more, she just wants her money back. So she'll get it."

Lalonde said he is no longer involved in the development projects, having resigned from them three years ago, leaving one of his partners in charge.

He said he expects the projects will proceed and "be one of the most successful, most beautiful projects Costa Rica has ever had." He pointed out other investors are pleased with their investments.

For those who want their money back, Lalonde said there isn't money left to give them.

"I didn't say no. I said there was no money in the bank to give you. I didn't say, 'No you can't have it,' he said.

"Forty per cent of all El Escape investors requested their money back and got their money back. Some also requested their money back and there's no money to give them. It's called 'insolvency.' So we said, you can wait till there's money there or you can wait and get your land."

On the efforts by the investor group to get the matter in court, Lalonde said, "This is just extortion. Coercion. Collusion. To try and take something from me."

To Buhlert, Lalonde addressed her in the interview saying, "I love you, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry that you don't have that money. And I can't wait for you to get it back. You're a sweetheart and it's just you got caught in the downturn and bought right when the thing died. Sorry."

'Everything was through Donny'

Other investors expressed similar complaints, including Sue Lindstrom, a Florida resident who said she, together with a few friends, invested $79,500 US through Lalonde to buy two lots in El Escape.

Lindstrom said she had moved to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, from the U.S. in 2007 and was introduced to Lalonde.

"Everything was through Donny. He's the one that gave me all the information and he's the one that signed the purchase contract," she said.

Lindstrom's share of the investment was just under $30,000 US.

She understood the development was going to be a gated community with a spa, stables, horseback riding paths, a hotel and individual lots for building homes.

Years passed and with no progress in sight, Lindstrom asked to have the money returned. With no money forthcoming, in 2012, Lindstrom said, she got a lawyer to initiate arbitration and also put a lien on the property. In the end, however, she and her partners got a settlement without the need for arbitration.

"Sue Lindstrom was told of the risks of investing versus buying retail," said Lalonde. "She like the rest of us took that risk."

Lalonde told CBC News that Lindstrom had her investment returned to her, but she said she finished with a loss of about $20,000 US on the deal.

"Really angry. I'm not happy at all," Lindstrom said. "I am not a rich person, so of course that money was something I was counting on. I am retired, not a very large pension."

'Really angry. I’m not happy at all,' says Florida investor Sue Lindstrom, who with friends, invested $79,500 US through Lalonde to buy two lots in El Escape. (CBC) "It wasn't just the money," she said. "I mean he [Lalonde] robbed me of probably two or three years of my life that were extremely stressful while that was going on, through all of this. Basically I think it destroyed my dream of living down there in Costa Rica, and I did end up moving back to the States just to get out of that negative atmosphere."

Lindstrom doesn't buy Lalonde's explanations for the delays.

"It just seems to me that he was always making excuses to delay things, and then when it all came crashing down was when he used the economy as an excuse," she said.

Lalonde said he did his best to complete the projects and that "they are still being moved forward by the current owner."

"I had water run, roads built, roads registered where they didn't exist previously, numerous kilometres of electrical run, water run and many lots registered and transferred to many investors for years after the project had any funding," he said in an email.

"I did more than anyone else by far who was involved," he added. He said that recently 16 more lots in the Howler Ridge project have been registered and can now be transferred to investors, meaning 90 per cent of the land in that project has been delivered.

William Belanger, Lalonde's longtime friend who's now in charge of Howler Ridge and El Escape, said both projects are still progressing.

Lalonde said he wouldn't hesitate to return to Costa Rica to defend himself if need be.

"Of course I would. In a heartbeat."

Donny Lalonde told the CBC I-Team’s Katie Nicholson he’s writing an autobiography and managing a young boxer while living in Malta. He said he wouldn’t hesitate to return to Costa Rica to defend himself if need be. (CBC)

Donny Lalonde's summary response to CBC News/Toronto Star:

I did not leave Canada with money improperly relating to my bankruptcy.

I did not have lawsuits that caused my bankruptcy, that was caused by an unjust determination by Revenue Canada and the outfall from them ceasing [sic] my assets and funds.

I am sorry for anyone hurt by that process but for the record there was nothing I could do about it in spite of doing everything I could to prevent it.

I did not do anything to hurt people in Costa Rica. Me and my partners and all involved got caught in the biggest economic downfall in our lifetimes. I think logical, sane and reasonable people understand this.

The monies I earned in CR and US and Canada was done legally and honorably.

Anything any investors want to know they are welcome to ask the new owner/manager. I have had enough. I am waiting on properties from these projects as well. When I get them I will be very grateful to he who delivers them. Building communities is not easy. I appreciate everything being done to complete them.

I am sorry to all investors I am not a bank that can print money and refund all your investments. I am sorry I am not the national water company or God and couldn't bring water to the area before now which is finally being done.

I did my best in every way I could. I trust the current owner will as well. I promise I won't ask him, even though he was one of the original co-owners, to refund me my investment. Doing his best and delivering titled, serviced land would be a near miracle after all the projects have been through. I appreciate his efforts.

Remember, anyone who paid full price back in '07, '08 would have either sold at a loss by now or would still be waiting for their investments to return to the value they paid. People who paid the prices they did of our projects, are much more likely to make money on their investment in spite of everything. Because instead of paying market value at the peak of a market they made an investment that provided opportunity to get in at a lower cost.

With files from the Toronto Star, DataBaseAR and the Malta Independent.

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