Police arrested the 57-year-old in early March. She does not reveal his identity, because criminal charges have not yet been brought against him. However, people who filed a complaint against Daniel Bard indicate that the RCMP contacted them to announce the arrest of the man.
Daniel Bard was vice-president at Corporation 3+, an economic development agency in Moncton, from 2016 to 2018.
Daniel Bard was sued by several people and companies before and after working for the 3+ Corporation.
Photo: Daniel St Louis/3+/Facebook
In 2019, several entrepreneurs accused him of defrauding them. He would have cheated them by receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in brokerage and administrative fees without having kept his promises on the returns they would obtain.
Daniel Bard then disappeared for about 3 years.
The RCMP has opened an investigation following complaints made by contractors in Dieppe. The CBC network asked the RCMP for an update on this on Tuesday.
RCMP spokesperson Corporal Hans Ouellette said a 57-year-old man was arrested by RCMP in Edmundston on March 2.
The man was later released and is scheduled to appear in court in Moncton on July 6 at 9 a.m. The RCMP did not specify what charges the man may face.
Several civil lawsuits
Daniel Bard, in his fifties, is from the Edmundston region. He was the subject of several civil lawsuits. Plaintiffs won their case against him.
According to the plaintiffs, he was offering to help small businesses get loans and investments through his own private company called VM Venture Management. He asked for brokerage and administrative fees for this.
Moncton lawyer Christian Michaud represents several people who say they were cheated by Daniel Bard. Christian Michaud estimated in 2019 that the total sum amounted to at least 2 million dollars.
For example, the Charlo HIL Group company paid $130,000 to Daniel Bard in 2017. The latter had promised him an investment to carry out a project to transform organic waste into combustible pellets. The investment never materialized.
The company sued him. The Court of Queen’s Bench ordered Daniel Bard to repay this money in 2019. Daniel Bard had not presented a defense or attended the proceedings.
Saly and Clinton Davis, owners of the Glamor Secrets salon in Dieppe, paid $25,000 to VM Venture Management against the promise of a loan of $8 to $13 million to carry out a business project. The loan never materialized.
In the fall of 2019, they meet Daniel Bard one last time. He hands them a check to repay their investment, but the bank account was closed and the entrepreneurs were left empty-handed.
Saly Davis claims to have lost several thousand dollars at the hands of Daniel Bard and his company VM Venture (archives).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Paul Landry
Saly and Clinton Davis filed a complaint with the RCMP in August 2019 saying they believed Daniel Bard had left the country.
Saly Davis now claims that the police informed her of Daniel Bard’s return to the province and his arrest. She plans to sit front row in the courtroom when she appears in court in July.
The couple believe that the 3+ Corporation should also be held accountable for what happened.
Susy Campos, who became CEO of the 3+ Corporation after Daniel Bard’s departure, commissioned an independent investigation which concluded that the organization had nothing to be ashamed of during Daniel Bard’s tenure in a leadership position.
With information from Frédéric Cammarano of Radio-Canada and Shane Magee of CBC
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca