I get a kick out of this kind of reporting… If the reporter would have done the math it would appear that someone mysteriously pocketed $104,500 as it is unaccounted for out of the $200,000 investment…. Had the reporter done their job they would have explained to the public that the immigrant investor doesn't really invest $200,000 as $100,000 of that amount is really a paper loan and the investor really only comes up with $100,000 to qualify for the program, which is a pretty cheap entry into our Country. Most recipients (like the Gentlemen below) received between $32,000 to $42,000 per $200,000 investor unit and that really depended on what the agent, accountant and lawyer’s fees were and if I had to guess it would appear that the agents did quite well.... I heard two "reporter recipients" of the PNP's on the news tonight talking about the Province raking in $400,000,000 through the program when in fact the real "cash infusion" from the investors would be more like $200,000,000 but they seem to want to sensationalize the situation... now here's the funny side of the reporting... I'm an eighth generation Islander whose family is recorded in the 1880 Meacham's Atlas of PEI and even though our family immigrated here (without a PNP) around 1766 I'm still having a hard time being identified as a PEI businessman.... But when Mr. Metaxas whose family name doesn't appear on a 2000 PEI voters list wants to "dump" on a program that put a lot of much needed investment into our Island businesses (including his) then the reporter wants to call him a P.E.I. businessman... if he wants "to be more comfortable if the investors had more of a role" then I'm sure there is no one stopping him from giving his new investors a "role"... tonight on CBC Compass a couple of the political panel who received PNP's are going to be talking about the PNP program and I'll be watching to see if their poor arms are better from the "twisting" they took in accepting their PNP's.... the devil made them do it!!!
PNP deal seemed too easy: businessman
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
CBC News
A P.E.I. businessman who received investment money from a potential immigrant through the Provincial Nominee Program says the process seemed too easy.
Peter Metaxas owns SEC Heat Exchangers in Vernon River, a company that buys and sells heat exchangers around the world.
Metaxas said he was advised in late summer to get some of the immigrant investor money available under the federal-provincial program, which ended on Sept. 2.
He received one payment, $42,000, from an immigrant who wants to move to Canada. In total, the immigrant put up $200,000 for the right to come here, pending health and security checks.
Other recipients included an agent, who got $45,000, a lawyer, about $6,000, and the government, $2,500. Some of the money was a deposit, returned if the immigrant stayed on P.E.I. for a year and learned English.
Metaxas said he never met the agent or the investor, and he was surprised at how easy the process was.
"It's not like someone just said, 'Knock, knock. Here's some money.' But I didn't probably spend more than 45 minutes total — maybe an hour and a half if you included my travelling time to the lawyer — to get [about] $40,000," he said.
Will follow plan
Metaxas said he will spend the money according to a business plan drawn up by his accountant. He doesn't know if anyone from the program will ever check to make sure that happens.
Metaxas believes the program could be a good economic stimulus for P.E.I., but he would be more comfortable if the investors had more of a role.
The immigrant partner section of the Provincial Nominee Program underwent a drastic change in September, requiring up to $1 million from potential immigrants.
In the three months leading up to that change, the province processed 1,800 applicants. In previous years, the program typically attracted a few hundred immigrants.
P.E.I.'s auditor general has announced an investigation of the PNP, one that could go back to its inception in 2001.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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2 comments:
i'd like to see a list of the agents released. Thats where the real dirty business seems to be....lawyers / accts ,shrug, they make money but who were the agents...how did they become agents...what were their qualifications...how come i wasn't an agent ! (just kidding). The business people who received $$ for the most part aren't the ones to go after in my opinion ...i know of people - small time family businesses who benefitted greatly from the small infusision of cash.
Search 'closedcorporations.org' under Island International Capital Inc. or Canadian International Capital Inc.
A mystery solved thanks to some sleuthing courtesy of technology.
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