Gyula Jr Barta was a formidable investor leading a team of “traders”. A learned and independent man of fortune. So generous, even, that he invited 200 friends to a “big draw” to give them 3.25 million in prizes. Except that everything was wrong. Story of an absurd fraud.
“It seemed to be the gift of someone who was rich”, summed up in court Michel Forbes, a victim of Gyula Jr Barta who lost $ 10,000. “We were very, very naive. We believed in it. I wanted to believe it. For me, it was my retirement and my family… ”, confides Jocelyne Bourque, defrauded of $ 23,000.
As his trial was due to begin Monday, the 59-year-old Montrealer pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud over $ 5,000. A fraud of approximately $ 500,000 committed between 2009 and 2015 against some fifteen people. Three of them testified Monday about the consequences of the crime and the shame of having been trapped by a trusted person.
Described by his friends as a cultured, generous man and extremely sensitive to others, Gyula Jr Barta has used his aura of altruistic investor for years to rip off his victims. His “grand draw”, a particularly daring fraud, was the high point of these many fraudulent schemes.
In March 2014, Gyula Jr Barta sent out a nine-page invitation to some handpicked people to a conference titled “I Have Things to Say”. Supported by a mysterious octogenarian billionaire, the fraudster promises to draw more than 70 prizes worth 3.25 million among the 200 participants, including two jackpots of 1 million.
But to be eligible for these “spectacular” prizes, participants must make an “effort” by reserving “seats” from $ 250 to $ 2,500. In the end, he swears, the participants will all be reimbursed. A “big envelope” will also be given to everyone at the start of the event.
“Not only will your money come back to you […], but your chances of making money have never been so spectacular, ”he promises in the invitation. “Does this all seem a little hard to believe?” Are you not sure if this is serious? Yet it is! », He assures us.
However, it was all wrong. About ten people have lost tens of thousands of dollars. Richard Paré, he trusted Mr. Barta “blindly” to the point of putting $ 16,000 on his line of credit to buy seats. “We got on board because we knew him. We said to ourselves: he is honest. But we got screwed. We are taken with shame. It’s rough, ”said Richard Paré, in the courtroom.
“He is someone we trusted,” testified Jocelyne Bourque, who had gone to school with Mr. Barta. Her voice broken with emotion, she recounted making other bad investments believing to hit the jackpot. “Today, we are delaying a retreat,” she said.
Millions promised in return
In the 2000s, Gyula Jr Barta presented himself as a successful “trader” with his many acquaintances. He dangles them with amazing returns, but uses their funds to maintain his lifestyle, including one trip per year. He thus extracts $ 125,000 from his first victim in 2009. To an American, he outright promises millions in return.
Gyula Jr Barta maintains that he was actually investing some of the money in “futures”, very risky derivatives. However, he ended up losing everything. “I was in survival mode. I lost control, ”he explained, confessing his crimes to investigators in 2017. The fraudster then spoke of his“ mental illness ”and assaults suffered in his youth to justify his actions.
In 2014, Gyula Jr Barta “sinks deeper and deeper” into her lies. Every day, he assures us, he made himself “believe” that he would be able to reimburse all his victims. It was his goal, he swears.
“It’s the start of my downfall… It’s embarrassing. I can’t believe what I said. I can’t believe it, ”laments Gyula Jr Barta in the video of her interrogation presented in court. “I was very sophisticated in convincing people to donate large amounts,” he admits.
At the end of the interrogation, in 2017, the fraudster evokes a nebulous $ 750,000 to reimburse the victims. “Technically, I’m about to have it,” he swears. ” I’m going to see her. It’s not hidden money, ”he adds cryptically.
In April 2017, the Autorité des marchés financiers warned Quebec investors about Mr. Barta’s schemes.
Other victims will testify this Tuesday before judge Robert Marchi. Me Denis Trottier represents the public prosecutor while Mr. Barta defends himself alone.