A New Reality, A New Life. Investor Losses in Greg Martel's Schemes''.

People who invested in Greg Martel's companies are getting tax bills for interest they never received. Victims of Victorian mortgage broker Greg Martel's investment schemes say they are resigned to the fact their money is gone and hope Martel will one day be held accountable. In the meantime, they want to get rid of tax bills for money they never received.

Some of the 1,200 investors who put more than $250 million into short-term loans offered by Martel told the Victoria Times Colonist last week how they have been hurt and what they want to see happen.

"I'm not a person who wants revenge or anything like that. I'd like to see it''explained what happened and where that money went,' said Graham, a retired island resident who asked that his last name not be used. "In a broader sense, if someone walks away from things like that, it's horrible because, heck, if they walk away from it, maybe I should consider a life of crime. "

Graham, who is in his 60s, entrusted more than $100,000 to Martel, who offered the opportunity to invest in short-term bridge loans for commercial and residential real estate. He said he and his wife are lucky that their investments are diverse, and not everything is tied to Martel.

"It's a big headache and a serious punch in the gut, you know, but it's not the end of the world for me," he said. "But I think some of the people involved in this,'''received about half that amount in interest payments. But when Martel and his My Mortgage Auction Corp.

Morse questions how she even got involved, despite believing she had completed all the necessary checks and asked the tough questions.

"I'm wondering if these contracts were even legal?" - she said. "I don't want to think badly of [Martel] because then I can't trust myself to evaluate character, and I don't want to give him that kind of power. "

According to her T5 form, which is used to report interest and income from unregistered investments, it says she earned income from her investments with''s assessment based on interest income reported on the T5 form may file an objection with the department. By filing an objection, taxpayers retain the right to an impartial review of the ITC that takes into account the underlying facts and circumstances, the department said.

Judy and her husband said they are being denied an old-age pension because of unrealized investment gains. That means an additional loss of between $1,200 and $1,400 a month for both of them.

It's unclear when these issues might be resolved.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Martel's bankruptcy trustee, is still investigating where the money went and is reluctant to call the investment a Ponzi scheme. The Columbia-British Columbia Securities Commission is also conducting''investigation.

Martel is believed to have left Thailand on Aug. 30 and his current whereabouts are unknown. There are civil arrest warrants in Canada and the U.S. against him.

Pricewaterhouse believes the scheme involves more than 1,300 investors and covers nearly $300 million.

DPricewaterhouse is under the direction of an investigator and has been investigating since May, but has only been able to find about $300,000 because Martel refuses to cooperate.

The investigation was extended through the end of February and has resulted in more than $1 million in expenses.

Last week, a bankruptcy court in California issued a ruling allowing Pricewaterhouse to operate in the U.S., as it already does in Canada.

This means,'''That Pricewaterhouse may investigate Martel's business, seize his assets, interview witnesses, obtain evidence, and intervene in any matters relating to Martel and his business.

The judgment is effective and no one other than Pricewaterhouse can transfer, sell, or encumber Martel's property in the U.S.

Pricewaterhouse said in court that a group of US creditors claiming to be owed more than $2 million hired a sleuth to track down Martel in Thailand and struck a deal with him whereby Martel transferred the rights to two Tesla cars, a large amount of money and his Las Vegas property to the leader of the creditor group. It added that the house transfer took place after a Canadian court decided to freeze the assets''Martela.