CALGARY — The next court date for two men accused of defrauding global investors out of millions won’t be until March so their lawyers can wade through 80,000 pages of documents.
Gary Sorenson and Milowe Brost are both charged with fraud and theft over $5,000 in the alleged Ponzi scheme.
Police allege thousands of investors in Canada, the United States and overseas were swindled out of about $400 million between 1999 and December 2008.
Brost appeared in a Calgary courtroom with his lawyer Monday, but refused to speak to the media as he left. Sorenson was not present.
His lawyer, Don MacLeod, said outside court that it will take a while to get through all the information in the case.
“We anticipate highly voluminous disclosure will be provided within the short-term future and it’s going to require all counsel, including the prosecution, some considerable while to review that.”
MacLeod said so much material isn’t unusual in a commercial case. He pointed out that a single real estate transaction can involve up to 300 pieces of paper.
“Commercial cases generate paper. That’s a simple truism.”
Brost and Sorenson have been free on bail, and Sorenson’s conditions were loosened slightly Monday to allow him to more easily visit his sick mother in British Columbia.
The two men were charged Sept. 13. Brost was arrested, but Sorenson was still at large and police said they believed he was living in Honduras.
He was arrested Sept. 29 after stepping off a plane at the Calgary airport. Police say he returned voluntarily after discussions between his lawyer and government officials.