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In 32 years of adjudication I have never encountered a more vile, more heinous fraud than that perpetrated by Hibbert on his unsuspecting parishioners

Det. Gail Reagan called it a textbook Ponzi scheme: for a short time, investors received money from the non-existent account. But soon bogus monthly statements replaced the cheques, prompting multiple investors to report the Hibberts to the Ontario Securities Commission.

The Commission moved to permanently ban Marlon Hibbert from the securities industry last spring after its investigation concluded that the Hibberts acted as advisors without registration and engaged in an illegal distribution of securities at the expense of their investors.

“In 32 years of adjudication I have never encountered a more vile, more heinous fraud than that perpetrated by Hibbert on his unsuspecting parishioners,” OSC commissioner James Carnwath said at the time, adding that Mr. Hibbert’s actions demonstrated a clear desire to “substantially improve the financial position of himself and his family.”

In June, an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered the Hibberts to pay back the invested money at 5% interest, in addition to the complainants’ legal fees, estimated at around $100,000. Police said Friday that $4-million remains outstanding.

At his trial last April, the court learned that many of the duped investors were of meager means to begin with. Some cared for severely disabled children, some lost their homes in the process and other blindly dumped their life savings into the fund.

“They are distraught, they are hurt, they still can’t believe that someone like this could have done this to them,” said Det. Reagan.