VICTORIA — A former Canadian rowing athlete wrote letters to clients expressing remorse for investment decisions just before he disappeared Nov. 3, according to a Canadian newspaper.
The Times Colonist of Victoria reported Wednesday that Harold Backer had written letters to investment clients apologizing for decisions he made in money management since the dot-com crash of 1999-2000.
Backer, 52, was last seen boarding the MV Coho ferry in Victoria as it headed to Port Angeles at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 3.
Authorities in both nations have been seeking the investment banker and former Olympic athlete since.
According to the Times Colonist, Backer, who was a three-time Olympic rower for Canada’s national team, started his own firm, Financial Backer Corp., in 1996.
Four years later, market-based funds he sold lost as much as 45 percent of their market value during the market crash.
In the letter Backer wrote to clients, the Times-Colonist said, Backer told them he maintained the investment values at their 1999 levels and “grew them on paper at a general market rate of return, but could not keep up to the pace of growth required.
“I am aware that I am running a pyramid investment. I will not keep doing it,” the newspaper quoted him as saying in the letters.
Backer wrote that there was no way he could pay back the losses to his clients and said he was “truly sorry for the effects of my poor decisions,” the newspaper said.
He is registered as an active mutual fund dealer with Investia Financial in British Columbia and Ontario, the Times Colonist said, adding that he has been with the company since June 2005.
In a statement Tuesday, Investia said it “has no reason to believe that there has been any wrongdoing on the part of the representative” and is conducting a full investigation into Backer’s professional activities with Investia, the newspaper said.
Investia told the Times-Colonist it has never received a client complaint about Backer’s professional activities.
A Victoria Police Department spokesman, Matt Rutherford, said police are seeking Backer only out of concern for his safety and the peace of mind of his family.
Backer told his family he was going for a bicycle ride and failed to return home, Victoria police said, adding that there was neither an indication of foul play nor any hint of why he might have disappeared voluntarily.
Victoria police are working with the Port Angeles Police Department and the Washington State Patrol.
Brian Smith, deputy chief of the Port Angeles Police Department, said Tuesday his department was contacted to assist in the search for Backer only as a missing person case.
Port Angeles police are “85 percent certain” a bicyclist videotaped as he left the ferry was Backer, Smith has said.
He added that there is no evidence that Backer is now in Port Angeles, adding that Backer is known to be able to bicycle long distances.
Backer is 6 feet, 3 inches tall; weighs between 200 and 220 pounds; and has short graying hair and green eyes.
He was wearing a red cycling shirt and black cycling pants, and was possibly carrying a black backpack. He would be riding a black Cannondale road bike.
Anyone who sees Backer is asked to call 9-1-1. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Victoria police, the lead agency in the search, at 250-995-7654.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.