COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

Page: 58
(ii)
What happened to the Mauldin group’s investment?
[125] Hryniak said that in September 2001, he met Ole Spaten, the owner of Aro
Motors, which was in the business of importing foreign cars into the United States.
According to Hryniak, Aro Motors had Deutsche Bank Finance bonds available for sale.
The bonds were on deposit in a bank called the New Savings Bank in Montenegro, in the
former Yugoslavia.
[126] Hryniak claimed that in December 2001, he decided to acquire the bonds as a “test
trade”. To do so, he set up a brokerage and bank account in the name of Tropos at the
New Savings Bank. He sent all the money he had raised, including the Mauldin group
investment, to this bank. The joint venture then purchased U.S.$5 million in Deutsche
Bank bonds from Aro Motors. Hryniak sold the bonds in mid-December and realized a
modest profit of three per cent (U.S.$197,000).
[127] The Tropos Joint Venture did no other trading. Aside from the less than
U.S.$10,000 distribution in February 2002, no money was ever returned to the Mauldin
group.
(iii)
Hryniak’s explanation
[128] Hryniak claimed that the money he had deposited at the New Savings Bank was
stolen by Jay Pribble, a senior vice-president with the bank. According to Hryniak,