Lawyer representing hundreds of clients through Epic Alliance collapse

A Saskatoon lawyer is seeking answers for about 120 investors who invested in a real estate investment company that has suffered a major collapse.

Epic Alliance confirmed with its investors that they have lost roughly $10 million in investments.

Mike Russell, a partner and insolvency group leader with W Law in Saskatoon, says these people want to know how their money suddenly vanished into thin air.

“We brought an application to appoint what’s called an inspector over these companies and the two individuals to investigate essentially where did the money go and is there any money left?” Russell told Gormley on Monday.

The two individuals to whom Russell was referring are Alisa Thompson and Rochelle Laflamme, the two people who run Epic Alliance.

The company has been around since 2013, working as a landlord and property management company for hundreds of homes in the core area of Saskatoon and in North Battleford.

“These investors, the amounts ranged from ($)50,000 to in the millions — some of them up to $1.52 million,” Russell said.

“One of the people that swore an affidavit from me in the court proceedings, their family lost their entire inheritance on this.”

According to Russell, the Financial Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) handed the company a temporary cease trade order.

“They weren’t registered as dealers,” Russell said. “They weren’t registered as advisers. They didn’t file a preliminary perspective (and) there were no financial statements.”

Russell has requested a special investigator to look into Epic Alliance.

“At the end of April, the investigator is going to render his report,” he said. “We’re going to review it and see what it says.

“Instead of 120-some individuals having to take action on their own, what we’ve got here (is a report). It’s going to tell us what assets to go after.”

So far, none of the allegations have been proven in court.