He was last seen going for a bike ride and hasn’t been seen since
Harold Backer, 52, is an advisor and former Olympic rower from Victoria, British Columbia. He has been missing since last Tuesday after he confessed to clients he had lost their money.
Clients and friends are making claims they believe the advisor may have lost their money, admitted to it and then fled. He leaves behind his own wife who hasn’t seen him since he set off on a bike ride last Tuesday.
At the start of what appears to be a very long ride, it is thought that a man matching Backer’s description was captured on surveillance footage. Port Angeles police said they were almost certain the man riding a bicycle through the town on the footage was Backer. It has since been reported that police in Washington believe a missing Victoria man had entered the state via a ferry a week ago.
Before disappearing Backer had written letters to several of his clients apologising for having lost some of their funds. In a letter obtained by The Times Colonist, Backer expresses deep regrets for his poor decision-making that ultimately cost his friends their savings. He cited the crash of 1999 as the main catalyst for his losses and claims to have been trying to make up for them since.
Backer’s former rowing coach, Boris Klavora, is among one of those unlucky clients and told CTV News that he believes much of his own investments, intended for retirement, have now vanished.
Backer rowed for Canada in three Olympic tournaments throughout the eighties and nineties. According to his LinkedIn profile, he began Financial Backer Corp in 1992 but is also a registered Investia mutual fund dealer.
Up until May of this year he was also a rowing coach at Brentwood College School.
Investia said in a statement that it currently “has no reason to believe that there has been any wrongdoing on the part of the representative. The company takes this situation very seriously and is conducting a full investigation into Mr. Backer’s professional activities with Investia.”
Police are said to be looking at all circumstances surrounding his disappearance and are asking anyone who sees him or knows of Backer’s whereabouts to call 250-995-7654.
Clients and friends are making claims they believe the advisor may have lost their money, admitted to it and then fled. He leaves behind his own wife who hasn’t seen him since he set off on a bike ride last Tuesday.
At the start of what appears to be a very long ride, it is thought that a man matching Backer’s description was captured on surveillance footage. Port Angeles police said they were almost certain the man riding a bicycle through the town on the footage was Backer. It has since been reported that police in Washington believe a missing Victoria man had entered the state via a ferry a week ago.
Before disappearing Backer had written letters to several of his clients apologising for having lost some of their funds. In a letter obtained by The Times Colonist, Backer expresses deep regrets for his poor decision-making that ultimately cost his friends their savings. He cited the crash of 1999 as the main catalyst for his losses and claims to have been trying to make up for them since.
Backer’s former rowing coach, Boris Klavora, is among one of those unlucky clients and told CTV News that he believes much of his own investments, intended for retirement, have now vanished.
Backer rowed for Canada in three Olympic tournaments throughout the eighties and nineties. According to his LinkedIn profile, he began Financial Backer Corp in 1992 but is also a registered Investia mutual fund dealer.
Up until May of this year he was also a rowing coach at Brentwood College School.
Investia said in a statement that it currently “has no reason to believe that there has been any wrongdoing on the part of the representative. The company takes this situation very seriously and is conducting a full investigation into Mr. Backer’s professional activities with Investia.”
Police are said to be looking at all circumstances surrounding his disappearance and are asking anyone who sees him or knows of Backer’s whereabouts to call 250-995-7654.
