Kendra Wong
VICTORIA NEWS
After disappearing roughly a year-and-a-half ago, missing Victoria man Harold Backer has turned himself in to police.
Backer, a former Olympian and investment banker, walked into Victoria police headquarters and turned himself in Thursday afternoon.
“He appeared at our police station yesterday. He walked in of his own accord,” Victoria police spokesman Matt Rutherford said Friday.
The 52-year-old went missing on Nov. 3, 2015 after telling his family he was going out for a bike ride along the Galloping Goose Trail. After a search of the trail, which turned up nothing, a man closely matching Backer’s description was seen on a street security camera getting off the Coho Ferry from Victoria. The footage sparked police to expand their search to include the Port Angeles Police Department.
But where Backer went after that remains a mystery to police, as the investigation continues.
Shortly after his disappearance, financial crime investigators began an investigation into Backer’s company My Financial Backer Corporation, after his investors received letters expressing remorse for decisions he made that cost them money and taking responsibility for the financial loses.
In the letter, he also admitted to running a pryamid investment scheme to accelerate gains in funds that had taken a big loss during the dot-come crash.
Around the same time, Backer’s employer, Mutual Funds company Investia Financial Services Inc., whom he worked with since 2005, terminated his licence due to an internal fraud investigation.
Backer is facing two counts of fraud over $5,000 and made his first apperance in court Tuesday.
kendra.wong@vicnews.com