Cliff Evans Bails from CCWIPP Board
quote:
Trustee quits the board of controversial pension plan
Ex-union leader says time to resign
$280 million sunk into `risky' ventures
TONY VAN ALPHEN
BUSINESS REPORTER
A former union leader who helped steer more than $280 million of workers' retirement funds into dubious investments has resigned as a trustee of their giant union pension plan.
Cliff Evans, founder of the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan, confirmed yesterday he left the board this week, but said his departure had nothing to do with revelations about sinking cash into exotic money-losing Caribbean resorts or numerous other unusual ventures....
I know there is a similar post in this thread, but our bunch think that something this big should have its own thread.
The story can be found at the Toronto Star site for the next few days. However, we don't think that the Star revealed even a small bit of what's really going on here.
There's a lot of poopy pants around this neck of the woods and some in Alberta and BC, or so we're told. It's cold here in Ontario, and Cliff ain't the only one sporting Florida sweat beads on his forhead.
I'll bet the CCWIPP wasn't too quick to advise all of its members about this suit against the Plan.
quote:
876502 Ontario Inc. v. I.F. Propco Holdings (Ontario) 10 Ltd.
Between
876502 Ontario Inc. and Creekside Properties Limited,
plaintiffs,
and
I.F. Propco Holdings (Ontario) 10 Limited, and Alain Bilodeau, Judy Robinson, Victor L. Pinchin, Howard G. Preston, Paul B. Nielsen, Bernard Christophe, Jean-Roch Gautier, Jom Cockett, Tom Kukovica and Clifford Evans sued on behalf of themselves and as trustees to the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry and as trustees to the Canadian Pension Fund and all others who were members of the United Foods and Commercial Worker's
Union between November 5, 1990 and the present,
defendants
[I9971 O.J. No. 802
Court File No. 91-CQ-1854
Ontario Court of Justice (General Division)
22. I am advised by John C. Hubble and do verily believe that upon being cross-examined in this matter by solicitors for the Plaintiff, Clifford Evans testified he entered into an agreement with Mr. Scarponi pursuant to which he was to purchase one home in Mr. Scarponi's subdivision at a cost of $60,000.00. He further testified that he paid the sum of $60,000.00 to Mr. Scarponi and, in return, received three Agreements of Purchase and Sale showing deposits of $20,000.00 on each of three homes. Mr. Scarponi has sworn in an Affidavit filed in these proceedings that, in actuality, Mr. Evans was purchasing three homes and that the Agreements of Purchase and Sale were legitimate.
I suppose this is premature and inaccurate too.
What the heck was Evans doing buying a GTA abode from a dude that the CCWIPP was negotiating a loan with? Besides that, what a friggin' enormous deal $60 grand is for a house. Why would this Scarponi dude be sellin' houses to anyone at $60,000? I don't give a crap if the deal is 10 years old. New houses in the GTA usually don't sell for that amount.
Don't blame CCWIPP when anything/anyone disappears, blame David Copperfield! 
quote:
Poof !
The Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan invested $3.8 million in a chain of U.S. restaurants that promoted a magic theme. But it didn't take long for the money to disappear.
In 1998, one of the pension plan's investment companies took an equity position in Las Vegas-based LateNite Magic Inc.
It was a company that had formed a few years earlier to develop restaurants based on the act of illusionist David Copperfield.
The restaurants would feature stage magicians and roving performers.
In 1996, Copperfield had planned a 500-seat restaurant at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., at a cost of $30 million (U.S.). But it never opened in 1998 because of financial difficulties.
The next year, the pension plan wrote off the magic investment, according to the fund's annual financial statements.
Source: Tony Van Alphen
Money that gets dumped into investment schemes never disappears. It leaves one or many pockets and lands in other pockets. All that happens is that one person used to have it and now other people have it.
The big question for the regulators and other authorities is, 'Who has the CCWIPP dough in their pockets?'
quote:
posted by weiser:
The big question for the regulators and other authorities is, 'Who has the CCWIPP dough in their pockets?'
Start making the list. The class action guys are eventually gonna need it. Remember to include:
- Corporate pockets
- Individual pockets
- Union pockets
- Government pockets
And then members can reach down as deep as possible into those pockets... and crush 'em (massage 'em first if you really wanna be sadistic).
I wonder how big a pension Cliff is drawing from the CCWIPP? I wonder about O'Halloran, Whitlock, Fraser, Kukovica, Williamson, Hanley.....
I wonder who all the supposed "self pays" are that the CCWIPP financials record? I wonder if they pay out of their own pockets or whether the payment is made for them?
Hey, FSCO! It's forensic audit time. It's gettin' to be Class Action Suit time. Rather than being named as a co-defendant, the only mention of FSCO in the suit should be the mention of how dilligent they were in rooting out the corruption. Sadly, the FSCO, and possibly some FSCO individuals, will most likely be co-defendants.
The FSCO has a number of powers it can exercise. One of them is to order a full, complete and forensic audit of the CCWIPP. Why is the FSCO so afraid of conducting an audit?
The FSCO is run by individuals. Are the individuals afraid of the CWIPP people and their associates? If the FSCO individuals' inaction stems from fear, what could they fear? Hmmmmm.....?
Wow, Cliff Evans resigning from CCWIPP. The great UFCW-god has fled from his temple. Elvis has left the building people. This can't be good for morale inside the UFCW. Not after two decades of proclaiming him the "Pension Progenitor".
I too would love to know about Cliff's "benefits" from CCWIPP. And while we're at it, let's find out about the the leaders of unions that merged with the UFCW in recent years - like the notorious Tommy Corrigan and the notorious Bill Whyte. Are they drawing pensions from CCWIPP? I've heard that they are. Inquiring minds want to know and we're going to find out.
quote:
Are they drawing pensions from CCWIPP?
That's bizarre - are there no regulations which limit pension leaches or at least limit the number from one organization?
I've received dozens of ufcw pension don't-worry be-happy pamphlets but they aren't working very well. I am concerned, as are others. Why is fsco, even after determining violations - dragging it's responsibility and letting this continue unchecked?
Think about it....
Gib Whitlock and Evan's pal Jim Smith got 25-years of pension credited to them just for washing the Westfair people through the UFCW Local 1518 Pension Plan. I guess Brooke and Don Monk must have thought that was a good deal until Whitlock slid his brood into the CCWIPP. Hell, the Textile Processors got a mighty fine pension for sliding their crews into the UFCW.
You have to wonder when well over 1/4 million dollars a year goes on the CCWIPP books as "self pays." That line shows up below all the amounts deposited by employers -- some of which are UFCW locals that would have the UFCW Canada and International Plans covering their employees.
I don't know about you, but I sure do wonder.
More Evans bull:
quote:
Evans, who led the United Food and Commercial Workers in Canada from 1988 until 1992 and retired as a vice-president of the union's international parent in 1994, said he had planned on serving as a trustee for 10 years.
"I stayed 11, so it was time," he said in a brief interview from his Florida home.
He left the Canadian payroll in '92 and placed Kukovica in his chair to keep it warm until his nephew Mike Fraser was old enough to sit in it. It's obvious that even though Kukovica was supposed to be in control, he knew little, if anything about how Cliff was running the show.
Cliff and his hand-picked crew bought an infamous and bankrupt hotel with front-man Ron Kelly. The hotel had a contract with the HERE. Cliff ignored that fact and signed a contract with Kelly's Kelloryn Hotels and AFM Hospitality (Accomodex). The CCWIPP pumped a shit-load of dough into both. Later an arbitrator pointed out:
quote:
…it is interesting to note that the UFCW saw nothing incongruous about signing its collective agreement with the asset owner before its 'business' actually opened 'for business.'
Meanwhile, Kukovica seemingly accepted anything that the Cliff and his crew fed him. He proudly regurgitated the crap to anyone who would listen:
quote:
26. Counsel stated that, due to the links between the various corporate entities (two of which are extensions of CCWIPP and which would appear to have voting control when acting in concert), it was not difficult to conclude that the "UFCW" has effective control over Kelloryn. The Board"s attention was drawn to an article by Mr. Mike Edwards in the December, 1992 issue of 'Our Times', profiling Mr. Kukovica. An excerpt at pages 24 and 25 states as follows:
Besides putting money directly back into the pockets of the Membership, the joint trusteeship of pension plans between the UFCW and its various employers has permitted the Union to control the investment destiny of millions of dollars. 'With the pension funds we've been mainly concentrating in real estate, such as affordable housing projects' says Kukovica. This month the UFCW, with an equity stake of over 50 per cent, helped to reopen the Triumph Hotel in suburban Toronto, 'It was in receivership. Now the hotel will be unionized, so we've created (union) jobs at the same time.'
It was Mr. Kukovica's testimony that he and Mr. Edwards may well have misunderstood one another. He was of the view that the International had no equity stake at all in the hotel. Counsel for the responding party submits that a closer review of the facts suggests otherwise.
Isn't it interesting that Kukovica implicates the International? Unlike Cliff's nephew, Mike, he doesn't play the game that the CCWIPP is a separate entity. Kukovica is up front with the position that the International controls the CCWIPP.
the guy should be in jail.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051108/business/business1.html
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THE WYNDHAM property in Kingston and Comfort Suites in Ocho Rios are controlled by Ronald Kelly's hotel company RHK Capitals of Canada, according to the latest twists in an unfolding Canadian pension fund saga.
Is this news to Bernie? HEY BERNIE!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! The Gleaner even has confirmation from Linda on your from-idiots-to-priest-and-back-to-idiots scheme.
Cliff Evans says:
quote:
Evans denied the commission's findings. He also noted that Kelly was initially only a minor player in a hotel company that received pension plan funds.
Ron Kelly says:
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… Putting his church experience to work, Kelly advised funeral homes and cemeteries on business plans and raised funds for education projects. Almost by accident, he began helping struggling companies.
While driving to meetings across Metro, he often found himself on Keele St., viewing the grandiose Skyline-Triumph hotel, shut down amid financial troubles. Kelly found the $9 million power-of-sale price meant a per-room cost of just $27,000 - compared to $70,000 elsewhere in Metro. The hotel's convention centre alone cost $10 million!
He risked everything - his life savings, his inheritance, his condo. Family matched his $200,000 stake and he pulled together financing from banks and pension funds. 'It was a leap of faith (and) luck. I don't think anybody comes out of university or out of the priesthood and makes a miracle in real estate,' he muses.
Enter Stephen Phillips, now president of the 500-hotel U.S.-based Howard Johnson reservation chain. At the time, Phillips was trying to rejuvenate HoJo's image under his Accommodex Franchise Management (AFM) company. After he offered Kelly a franchise, Phillips told Kelly of an emerging upswing in hotel management; Kelly saw his chance in property. With consultant Ed McConnell, they brought seven hotels under the Howard Johnson banner. Most were picked up under power of sale. They bought a former Red Oak Inn on Windsor's main drag, a hotel on Yonge St. in Aurora, the Empire Hotel and Conference Centre in North Bay, as well as hotels in Morrisburg, Ottawa and Edmonton, Alta. In December 1993, Kelly bought the Royal Connaught in Hamilton under power of sale from Montreal Trust for $4.2 million.
Kelly himself bought properties in Toronto, London and Etobicoke. And when AFM's steady growth pushed it into going public, he sold his shares and moved on.
This is too funny:
Go to King Features Pardon My Planet.
Go to the strip from Monday, October 3, 2005.
http://www.svgchambers.org/article.asp?newsid=136
The transaction discussed on the linked page was posted a little while ago. I'm just curious as to who the two 'other' joint venture pension plans are? And how many of those little drink umbrella thingies did the $3M buy?
quote:
The investment was part of a joint venture between Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP) and two other pension plans, that lent the funds to RHK to purchase hotels and lands in Jamaica and the Bahamas.
An appraisal report on the Jamaican hotel, prepared in December 1997, valued the property at US$38 million, and recommended that a loan of US$25.3 million would be a safe investment - the amount later disclosed as the sale price for the hotel.
Additionally, financing was then provided by three companies, in the form of mortgages issued by:
. Ocean Chimo Limited in the amount of US$12.5 million, which was borrowed from ClBC Bahamas.
. A property company held by the pension funds in the amount of US$7.8 million.
. NCB Investments, which invested US$7.5 million.
The total financing for the investment was thus US$28 million or US$3 million more than the loan amount recommended by an independent appraiser.
No doubt they are somehow involved with Dave Harvey and Benefit Plan Administrators.
They are probably the Asbestos Workers and the Painters Union pension funds.
You'll find them mentioned in "Appendix A" Commercial Loans at page 62 of the FSCO CCWIPP Report.
