Transcripts
Welcome to lottery, Dreams and
Speaker:Fortune. My name is Timothy Schultz.
Speaker:This is an interview with Lana
Speaker:Mckenzie.
Speaker:Now, if you want to watch this
Speaker:interview, we will put a link to the
Speaker:YouTube page in the show notes.
Speaker:Without further ado, let's get to
Speaker:the interview. So I am so excited
Speaker:to be joined here by Lana Mckenzie.
Speaker:Her story is inspiring,
Speaker:very, very inspiring.
Speaker:And she actually is many things,
Speaker:but also a lottery winner.
Speaker:She actually won a jackpot
Speaker:of $2.2 million
Speaker:from the B.C.
Speaker:Children's Hospital
Speaker:Lottery.
Speaker:Her story is very heartwarming.
Speaker:She was one of the first
Speaker:people that I interviewed on
Speaker:this channel.
Speaker:So we met once
Speaker:before. But a lot has
Speaker:happened. And so we're going to
Speaker:get caught up with her and learn
Speaker:more about her story. Lana, how are
Speaker:you doing today?
Speaker:I'm great.
Speaker:It's so great to see you again.
Speaker:I was looking back and I can't
Speaker:believe it's been, like, over five
Speaker:years since we last talked.
Speaker:When was this?
Speaker:When did this happen that you won
Speaker:this $2.2 million prize
Speaker:from the Children's Hospital
Speaker:lottery?
Speaker:That was it in 2017.
Speaker:So May of 2017.
Speaker:My son had been a patient at the
Speaker:hospital, the B.C.
Speaker:Children's Hospital, and then
Speaker:we just wanted to support any way we
Speaker:could. And so we bought the
Speaker:the fundraiser lottery tickets.
Speaker:They do two fundraisers a year with
Speaker:them.
Speaker:To win a prize, you can get
Speaker:a choice of a house or just take a
Speaker:cash prize. And so we decided on the
Speaker:cash prize.
Speaker:Yeah, it was completely life
Speaker:changing and in so
Speaker:many good ways.
Speaker:It's like just surreal
Speaker:when it all happens.
Speaker:And then you kind of
Speaker:now have to navigate through like,
Speaker:what do we do now?
Speaker:How does this how does
Speaker:our lifestyle look like right now?
Speaker:And you want wanted to improve, you
Speaker:know, the way.
Speaker:Yeah. It's it's I think
Speaker:the biggest challenge is
Speaker:been to
Speaker:kind of like set yourself
Speaker:up for the future so that
Speaker:it's not like
Speaker:this big.
Speaker:And then you just kind of sad.
Speaker:Said and then it's like.
Speaker:You you don't want to be a broke
Speaker:lottery winner.
Speaker:Yeah. So you the
Speaker:at first you kind of make like rash,
Speaker:you know, quick decisions.
Speaker:But it's so much better when you
Speaker:actually can make
Speaker:decisions that are like
Speaker:thinking about the long term and,
Speaker:and things like that.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, that sounds very wise.
Speaker:And there's that stigma out there
Speaker:of lottery winners
Speaker:going through money.
Speaker:There's the stigma in our culture,
Speaker:but I don't know how much of that
Speaker:is true or not true, but it's
Speaker:certainly.
Speaker:Yeah, it's the way the media
Speaker:portrays it. But like that, that
Speaker:guy that just won like the biggest
Speaker:Powerball ever and like
Speaker:he's buying all these houses.
Speaker:And in my mind, I'm like, that's
Speaker:good. But like, you have to have
Speaker:enough to maintain those houses.
Speaker:You have to have enough income
Speaker:coming in from your investments
Speaker:that if you don't have enough
Speaker:to maintain what you've bought, like
Speaker:it's, you know, buying these huge
Speaker:properties. Like there's people
Speaker:that you have to hire to do
Speaker:all this work or taxes you have
Speaker:to pay And like, yeah,
Speaker:it's interesting seeing, you
Speaker:know, how the media reports
Speaker:it or like what information
Speaker:you see about other lottery winners.
Speaker:I loved your video with the guy
Speaker:who won the
Speaker:$10 million scratcher.
Speaker:And then yeah Bradley.
Speaker:Hired me.
Speaker:Yeah. And then he ended up with like
Speaker:3 million, which is like how it
Speaker:works in the States or whatever.
Speaker:But I was like so inspired
Speaker:by how they were so
Speaker:good with their investments
Speaker:and living off the money
Speaker:from the investments.
Speaker:I thought that was like so
Speaker:smart and inspiring.
Speaker:And it was like, I
Speaker:wished I'd made different decisions
Speaker:along the way where after I'd
Speaker:seen that video and
Speaker:how it was, they
Speaker:were so smart
Speaker:with the decisions they made.
Speaker:And in it's kind of like
Speaker:if you kind of stop and think about
Speaker:the long term.
Speaker:Is is much more
Speaker:beneficial than like this short term
Speaker:like stuff
Speaker:material. You know, it's
Speaker:it's it's it's hard to
Speaker:have the mindset because it's such a
Speaker:big you know, it's such a big thing
Speaker:and.
Speaker:Yeah. And and you won
Speaker:this 2.2
Speaker:million now in Canada
Speaker:a lot of prizes if you win lotto max
Speaker:or one of the major prizes and
Speaker:I assume this as well tax
Speaker:free it's.
Speaker:All tax free.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that's our government
Speaker:has sort of set it up.
Speaker:So it's it's like a gift.
Speaker:You're giving a gift because all
Speaker:the people that have bought the
Speaker:tickets have paid income tax on
Speaker:the money. You know this.
Speaker:And so it's like all this taxation
Speaker:that would happen.
Speaker:So luckily our government has
Speaker:kept it as a tax free investment.
Speaker:And then but any of your income
Speaker:that like once you invest the money,
Speaker:any income that's taxable income.
Speaker:So then you want to, you
Speaker:know, do things that are going to
Speaker:leverage. And, you
Speaker:know, there was some strategies that
Speaker:we thought about, but
Speaker:not everything works out okay.
Speaker:I think it's quite.
Speaker:Well I definitely want to ask
Speaker:your thoughts on that but
Speaker:before I get to that, I
Speaker:read that you purchased three
Speaker:tickets for a total of $100.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:and a little bit of back story.
Speaker:Your son you mentioned was in the
Speaker:hospital.
Speaker:What why was he in the hospital
Speaker:For people that aren't yet familiar
Speaker:with your story?
Speaker:And yeah, he
Speaker:when I was pregnant, it was detected
Speaker:that he had an enlarged kidney.
Speaker:So they monitored it while I was
Speaker:pregnant. And then once
Speaker:he was born, then
Speaker:he had the ultrasounds
Speaker:right away to see what it was
Speaker:and it was not functioning
Speaker:properly.
Speaker:So it was decided that
Speaker:he the best course
Speaker:would be to have surgery.
Speaker:So at eight months old, he had
Speaker:kidney surgery
Speaker:and that was a
Speaker:crazy experience to hand your baby
Speaker:over to the doctor and
Speaker:hope that it all goes well.
Speaker:And but it did.
Speaker:It was amazing care.
Speaker:Amazing. Doctors like the surgery
Speaker:that they're doing is this
Speaker:microsurgery.
Speaker:It's so tiny on,
Speaker:you know, just a eight month old
Speaker:little baby. And it was
Speaker:the care the nurses, the
Speaker:the we stayed there for three days
Speaker:and he quickly was
Speaker:getting better, you know, right
Speaker:away. And then
Speaker:the day that we it
Speaker:was, I think two years later
Speaker:that we won because
Speaker:the lottery
Speaker:from that and the same day
Speaker:we got the like all clear that every
Speaker:surgery was successful and
Speaker:it was like his kidney was better
Speaker:than before. So we got to hold
Speaker:the check and then we got the great
Speaker:news.
Speaker:So the same day.
Speaker:My gosh.
Speaker:And what did that feel like?
Speaker:It was, like, incredible.
Speaker:It was so good.
Speaker:And like the day
Speaker:you get the news, it's like
Speaker:you actually do the check picture
Speaker:like about a week later.
Speaker:So like, I knew these because we
Speaker:have to go over to Vancouver.
Speaker:We actually live on being Cooper
Speaker:Island, so we are
Speaker:it's about a like six hour
Speaker:day trip to get to Vancouver.
Speaker:So we kind of had to plan it out of
Speaker:like going.
Speaker:And I knew we were going to have
Speaker:this appointment with the doctor.
Speaker:So we like coordinate it all in the
Speaker:same day of doing this check
Speaker:presentation and doing
Speaker:the appointment with the doctor.
Speaker:And then we actually had a
Speaker:painting that we had
Speaker:from when we moved over to the
Speaker:island, we had a goodbye present.
Speaker:It was a painting of our family, so
Speaker:I had a copy of it made and I gave
Speaker:that to ABC Children's as a thank
Speaker:you gift.
Speaker:So it was really like a really
Speaker:nice experience.
Speaker:It was amazing to like,
Speaker:take this check with this 2 million,
Speaker:you know, $2.2 million and,
Speaker:and that that our son was
Speaker:going to be just fine.
Speaker:And, you know, it's just
Speaker:it's like so great.
Speaker:That is amazing.
Speaker:And I read that you had $33
Speaker:in your bank account prior to that.
Speaker:Is that true?
Speaker:Yeah, maybe.
Speaker:I think that we might have been.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:My. My husband was making us
Speaker:money.
Speaker:So what did you do right after you
Speaker:got this money?
Speaker:We we had recently moved over
Speaker:to Vancouver Island, and we were
Speaker:staying at, like, my grandparents
Speaker:cottage. And then
Speaker:we were, we were going to actually
Speaker:be buying a place because
Speaker:we were moving over here.
Speaker:We just hadn't really kind of
Speaker:decided. So it was
Speaker:kind of an opportunistic move.
Speaker:And then I contacted
Speaker:the TV and
Speaker:I got to audition.
Speaker:They accepted our story
Speaker:and then did the filming and
Speaker:David brought. Said found our house.
Speaker:That's right. Because you were on my
Speaker:lottery dream home.
Speaker:My Lottery Dream Home.
Speaker:Yeah, we were on the lottery dream show.
Speaker:Yeah, it was.
Speaker:That was, like, so much
Speaker:fun. I loved feeling
Speaker:that it was so much
Speaker:fun to do.
Speaker:It was so much like
Speaker:the film crew that they had were
Speaker:just so tight and they were just
Speaker:such a great group of people and
Speaker:it was like so fun.
Speaker:I loved it.
Speaker:And like we ended
Speaker:up picking, you know, the house
Speaker:and we actually were still
Speaker:in the house. We we love it.
Speaker:It's like out of everything
Speaker:that's happened and everything
Speaker:that we've bought or
Speaker:things, whatever we've done,
Speaker:it's been so great
Speaker:to like have this rock
Speaker:of like, you know, your, your
Speaker:home. It's like it's so important
Speaker:to have your home base
Speaker:in your home, like
Speaker:through Covid.
Speaker:It was so amazing
Speaker:that we had this, like, beautiful
Speaker:house to joy to have the space.
Speaker:We we ended up putting a pool
Speaker:in the backyard.
Speaker:We extended the patio,
Speaker:made it bigger, put a gazebo.
Speaker:It's a mess right now because the
Speaker:kids are also in summer.
Speaker:So I have my nice banana
Speaker:leaf background.
Speaker:Yeah, it looks like you're in a
Speaker:jungle or something.
Speaker:You have all these leaves behind
Speaker:you. What is that?
Speaker:At the Beverly Hills Hotel?
Speaker:Virtually, This
Speaker:is the iconic banana leaf
Speaker:wallpaper that they have that was
Speaker:put in specifically at the Beverly
Speaker:Hills Hotel.
Speaker:It made an appearance on the Golden
Speaker:Girls as well.
Speaker:But his bedroom was like this.
Speaker:So it's one of my favorite
Speaker:backgrounds. So I thought
Speaker:it was a little bit of fun
Speaker:to do that.
Speaker:I don't know if the housing market
Speaker:like where you are has like
Speaker:increased so much, but
Speaker:we our house is actually doubled in
Speaker:value for what we
Speaker:we borrowed 700,000.
Speaker:It's now 41.4 million.
Speaker:And like, so just
Speaker:having like when we paid
Speaker:cash, we didn't get a mortgage.
Speaker:We and it's been
Speaker:like just the best decision
Speaker:and like the best part of the
Speaker:whole situation.
Speaker:It's like a great location.
Speaker:The kids can walk to school, the
Speaker:high schools, the hockey rings.
Speaker:My husband was.
Speaker:Like.
Speaker:I had to talk him into.
Speaker:Doing the show.
Speaker:The H, the
Speaker:My Lottery Dream Home, you had to talk
Speaker:him into it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:What was his hesitation?
Speaker:He's he he doesn't
Speaker:love cameras and doing
Speaker:like being the center focus
Speaker:you know he's such a great
Speaker:guy so friendly but he likes
Speaker:more one on one where I'm
Speaker:more like.
Speaker:Tell everybody
Speaker:what was the attention like when
Speaker:you and then a few
Speaker:national television shows.
Speaker:But I mean that's beyond national
Speaker:that's.
Speaker:We were actually the first Canadians
Speaker:so when I approached the
Speaker:show they
Speaker:had never come to Canada before.
Speaker:The show was in
Speaker:its fourth season
Speaker:when ours was season four,
Speaker:Episode 11.
Speaker:So when we
Speaker:joined the show
Speaker:had popularity, it was like
Speaker:number two on the
Speaker:for HGTV.
Speaker:Their network Fixer, upper
Speaker:Fixer Upper was like the show
Speaker:that everyone loved right then.
Speaker:And so my lottery dream house
Speaker:was like slowly making
Speaker:its waves. But it hadn't quite,
Speaker:you know, people were enjoying
Speaker:it. But now I think it's
Speaker:during Covid, it became one of their
Speaker:number one shows and
Speaker:it really took off because people
Speaker:like that story of like, what could
Speaker:I what could happen if I won the
Speaker:lottery? You know, it's such a feel
Speaker:good story that they show.
Speaker:I love the way they edited and the
Speaker:way that they show the like
Speaker:everybody looking for the dream is
Speaker:such a great concept.
Speaker:And it's like to be part
Speaker:of that show is so neat.
Speaker:Yeah. What a unique
Speaker:and fun opportunity.
Speaker:There's a lot of really inspiring
Speaker:stories on there.
Speaker:And they did a follow up with you
Speaker:Was that in 2020 or.
Speaker:Yeah, during Covid like?
Speaker:So I actually after we
Speaker:did that and then it
Speaker:was like I was looking for other
Speaker:investments.
Speaker:And so I was looking at doing
Speaker:like some more real estate
Speaker:purchases
Speaker:and I contacted them about
Speaker:doing more of like a condo in
Speaker:Victoria. And so they actually,
Speaker:because I look back with the show
Speaker:and the director and the casting,
Speaker:they said, Well, yeah, like
Speaker:would you be interested to audition?
Speaker:And we'll talk about, you know,
Speaker:going and having you buy another
Speaker:condo, because I wanted one in
Speaker:Victoria, which is about three hours
Speaker:south of here.
Speaker:I did the audition and they accepted
Speaker:me again. So
Speaker:I but then because of Covid,
Speaker:they never came rent
Speaker:or they said they couldn't get
Speaker:the production crew through the
Speaker:border because the Australian
Speaker:government had shut down the border
Speaker:and they couldn't get any crews
Speaker:through. And because that didn't
Speaker:work out, we sort of did like catch
Speaker:up, like, you know, what's everybody
Speaker:doing kind of thing.
Speaker:And I don't know if it I try
Speaker:to find it. And they took those
Speaker:shows off because I
Speaker:think be like
Speaker:they like it to be like happy
Speaker:stories and like seeing
Speaker:people filming during Covid is kind
Speaker:of like, right.
Speaker:You know? So they might have taken
Speaker:some of that shows off their network
Speaker:streaming and stuff like that.
Speaker:But it was great.
Speaker:It was a one hour episode and I had
Speaker:about five minutes of airtime and I
Speaker:just talked about, you know, what
Speaker:we've been doing.
Speaker:And and then I sort of led into
Speaker:like, I'm thinking about buying a
Speaker:place in Victoria.
Speaker:What's in these like, I'll come
Speaker:back.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:But it kind of fizzled.
Speaker:So I went off on my own and
Speaker:I searched on my
Speaker:my own self.
Speaker:And I did find
Speaker:a condo that I really loved.
Speaker:And so
Speaker:for me, like I started
Speaker:investing in the stock market,
Speaker:I started doing investments
Speaker:with a
Speaker:financial advisor and that
Speaker:worked out good. And it was like
Speaker:something that we sort of found
Speaker:through my grandpa and stuff.
Speaker:But real estate is
Speaker:like, I just.
Speaker:How far was this after you won
Speaker:the lottery that you got of
Speaker:Financial Advisor?
Speaker:Well, that was right away.
Speaker:I mean, it's
Speaker:kind of like you feel like that's
Speaker:what you're supposed to do.
Speaker:Yeah, everybody's
Speaker:telling you, you know, And
Speaker:so there had been people that
Speaker:like had contacted me
Speaker:through Facebook Messenger.
Speaker:We went to school together.
Speaker:So do you.
Speaker:Need a financial advisor?
Speaker:You know, so my grandpa
Speaker:had a guy locally that
Speaker:worked out fine, but
Speaker:there, you know, and we set things
Speaker:up and there's but
Speaker:there's mistakes that were made
Speaker:that were annoying.
Speaker:And, you know,
Speaker:I sort of through
Speaker:the journey of investments
Speaker:and stuff, I figured
Speaker:because I'm so
Speaker:good at, I like
Speaker:to do it myself.
Speaker:Like, I like to do my own research
Speaker:about investments
Speaker:or like gifts or
Speaker:but, you know, sometimes things
Speaker:aren't good or some things are good,
Speaker:like when
Speaker:the stock market and like when Covid
Speaker:hit, the stock market just went
Speaker:crazy. Like, because streaming
Speaker:I actually had invested in HGTV
Speaker:like the Discovery stock
Speaker:and because I like investing
Speaker:in things that I'm
Speaker:I know like that are
Speaker:meaningful to me or have affected
Speaker:me in my life.
Speaker:So like investing in Discovery
Speaker:was who owned HGTV?
Speaker:And like, so I put the stock and
Speaker:it was just before they announced
Speaker:streaming.
Speaker:And so the stock like Donald
Speaker:was amazing.
Speaker:I mean, I hadn't put a lot, but
Speaker:it was still like, wow, look at
Speaker:that.
Speaker:And so and that was like,
Speaker:I had done that through my
Speaker:advisor because that's how
Speaker:you like, I don't have a trading
Speaker:license.
Speaker:And so but it was
Speaker:my decision.
Speaker:And so.
Speaker:Once there started to be like
Speaker:self trading platforms,
Speaker:I started moving in that direction
Speaker:because I wanted to control it
Speaker:myself.
Speaker:Because there was mistakes made with
Speaker:like moving some money from
Speaker:one to the other for
Speaker:and it had tax implications
Speaker:and our financial
Speaker:advisor done that and it
Speaker:was really kind of like annoying.
Speaker:So, so I
Speaker:just yeah, I decided to take
Speaker:control of myself and then to
Speaker:like,
Speaker:diversify your portfolio.
Speaker:You know, I want to invest in real
Speaker:estate because I wanted
Speaker:a more active investment
Speaker:that I had control over because
Speaker:I had I will be able to buy
Speaker:it. I would be able to do what I
Speaker:wanted to it, and then
Speaker:I would be able to sell it or rent
Speaker:it out or, you know, I wanted
Speaker:you kind of want
Speaker:I'm someone who likes that control
Speaker:and some people or
Speaker:they like to just sit and forget and
Speaker:like just make a bit of money.
Speaker:And, you know, it just depends.
Speaker:If you want to be an active investor
Speaker:or more of a passive investor.
Speaker:And my husband's more passive.
Speaker:He's like, just, you know,
Speaker:let things just go where I'm
Speaker:more like active.
Speaker:Like, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:You were actually on
Speaker:a show, I believe it is called
Speaker:Hustlers, Gamblers
Speaker:and Crooks
Speaker:recently, just recently.
Speaker:And so, yeah, what is
Speaker:that? Where can people find it and
Speaker:what what is that all about?
Speaker:What happened?
Speaker:So I had a friend,
Speaker:you know, tell me about this
Speaker:investment she's done.
Speaker:She had great success.
Speaker:She's been getting some really good
Speaker:returns.
Speaker:So I tried it out.
Speaker:It was with a mortgage broker
Speaker:locally here
Speaker:on the island, Victoria.
Speaker:And it was it was still
Speaker:investing in real estate, doing the
Speaker:short term bridge loan.
Speaker:So like, you would
Speaker:lend out your money through this
Speaker:mortgage broker that would like
Speaker:you. He would put together
Speaker:financing for, you know,
Speaker:projects or people that needed to
Speaker:borrow money for real estate.
Speaker:It was kind of like
Speaker:just sort of like private lending
Speaker:opportunities so
Speaker:that I sort of like once I sold
Speaker:all the real estate and then
Speaker:we just had some actual
Speaker:money to play with.
Speaker:And so I was like, okay, well try
Speaker:this. And I was getting great
Speaker:returns.
Speaker:But unfortunately
Speaker:things went a bit sideways
Speaker:with that situation
Speaker:and
Speaker:the guy took off with
Speaker:over 1200 investors.
Speaker:Money left the country
Speaker:and $300
Speaker:million is gone.
Speaker:Stolen, scammed.
Speaker:$300 million.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:People different.
Speaker:Wow. It turns.
Speaker:Out that.
Speaker:It was a huge
Speaker:scam, that
Speaker:it seemed like a legit investment.
Speaker:I talked to my lawyer, you know,
Speaker:what should I be checking for?
Speaker:And my lawyer said, you know, check
Speaker:with the Mortgage Broker
Speaker:Association. You should make sure
Speaker:he's licensed.
Speaker:Talk to other investors.
Speaker:You know, I spoke to someone who
Speaker:was an exempt
Speaker:market dealer.
Speaker:She said she'd had great success.
Speaker:I did, you know, research
Speaker:the project. It was like other
Speaker:people had success.
Speaker:I tested I did one investment, put
Speaker:some money in, took some money out,
Speaker:got returns.
Speaker:And so then
Speaker:the the company like the
Speaker:company, it was the guy
Speaker:he had this like good really good
Speaker:setup because he
Speaker:started working with people who
Speaker:were in the market dealer
Speaker:like invest private lending
Speaker:sort of area.
Speaker:And they brought this good system
Speaker:that was it was like a portal
Speaker:that investors had so that we could
Speaker:check which investments we were
Speaker:invested in, how what
Speaker:was happening with your payouts.
Speaker:And it was kind of like it was
Speaker:actually a really good system that
Speaker:worked in other
Speaker:like with other investment
Speaker:companies, like there's
Speaker:some companies that you can
Speaker:lend your money and they invest in
Speaker:multifamily in the states,
Speaker:and so they'll invest in apartment
Speaker:buildings. And then you keep your
Speaker:money in there for a year or two and
Speaker:then you get returns back when they
Speaker:sell off the properties and stuff.
Speaker:So I had I knew
Speaker:that that system was
Speaker:being used and so
Speaker:it felt like it was
Speaker:good because you had this good
Speaker:online system
Speaker:that you could see.
Speaker:So
Speaker:the guys.
Speaker:That.
Speaker:Did it totally did, and it was
Speaker:working and it was good.
Speaker:We were getting payouts.
Speaker:But then, yeah, we started not
Speaker:getting payouts and then we
Speaker:started trying to contact
Speaker:the guy and he wasn't reachable
Speaker:and like he wasn't talking.
Speaker:And then there was like people
Speaker:on like Reddit were like
Speaker:talking to other investors, started
Speaker:connecting with each other on
Speaker:Facebook. And we started like,
Speaker:because he would have these like,
Speaker:Zoom calls. And it was but nobody
Speaker:could talk. Nobody could chat.
Speaker:It was just a one way of him like
Speaker:giving us information, You're going
Speaker:to get your payout.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:And so was he.
Speaker:Where was.
Speaker:He?
Speaker:He was originally based in Victoria
Speaker:and, like, he knows a lot of my
Speaker:friends. Like he.
Speaker:He's is.
Speaker:He's not.
Speaker:No. I think he's someone who
Speaker:knew how to work the system.
Speaker:And figured out how to
Speaker:He figured out how to
Speaker:launder money.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:And do it in a way like,
Speaker:yeah, it's is such a scam.
Speaker:And so he
Speaker:ended up he, he was trying to start
Speaker:this company that was like a
Speaker:competitor to Toro.
Speaker:Do you know what Toro is?
Speaker:It's like a where if you have a car
Speaker:like if you have a fancy car you can
Speaker:or any car you're
Speaker:usually Tesla is or it's a
Speaker:platform where you can rent
Speaker:someone's it's like Airbnb cars.
Speaker:Yeah yeah I am familiar.
Speaker:Yeah. And so he was trying
Speaker:to start this thing called car share
Speaker:that he was had
Speaker:people designing websites and
Speaker:like he had started doing it and so
Speaker:he had moved to California
Speaker:and like he was offering investments
Speaker:that were in with like
Speaker:real estate in California.
Speaker:And then he was doing because
Speaker:he was based in Victoria, but then
Speaker:going down. So he had investors
Speaker:actually from California, he
Speaker:had investors from New York.
Speaker:It's like it's
Speaker:he had people all across America
Speaker:that like, it's crazy.
Speaker:It's going to be the biggest scam in
Speaker:Canada like
Speaker:that ever happened.
Speaker:This guy was.
Speaker:And it's it's still ongoing.
Speaker:Did the is he still missing
Speaker:or is there been accountability for
Speaker:what's happening?
Speaker:So in 2022,
Speaker:this is when he
Speaker:left the country.
Speaker:He said he told the
Speaker:investors that he
Speaker:was he had started
Speaker:volunteering with this company.
Speaker:It's called ah railroad
Speaker:or something. It was like a company
Speaker:that goes and
Speaker:gets.
Speaker:Human trafficking.
Speaker:Like if kids are being human
Speaker:trafficked, they go and like get
Speaker:those kids and rescue them.
Speaker:And so he said he was volunteering,
Speaker:but I don't think he was.
Speaker:I think he went to a gala event and
Speaker:took his picture. And then he used
Speaker:it to say that like he was
Speaker:I think he used it as
Speaker:a decoy or whatever,
Speaker:so that he said
Speaker:he was going to Thailand to go on a
Speaker:mission to like volunteer
Speaker:and be on a mission.
Speaker:And so we were like,
Speaker:that sounds great.
Speaker:Then it's like, turns
Speaker:out he like, skipped the country
Speaker:and knew where
Speaker:he was and no one was getting
Speaker:any money. And it like.
Speaker:Yeah, it all this
Speaker:film like it's gotten
Speaker:like I we
Speaker:invested quite a bit because it was
Speaker:successful and so I was,
Speaker:you know, trying to leverage
Speaker:some
Speaker:money so that like you
Speaker:could, I borrowed a bit so that it
Speaker:was like a tax write
Speaker:off because when you borrow to
Speaker:invest and you get these tax breaks
Speaker:and stuff, So it
Speaker:was kind of like you're getting
Speaker:caught up in like.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so, yeah,
Speaker:it was devastating.
Speaker:Once we found, like, my friend
Speaker:texted me like he's left the country
Speaker:and it was like the
Speaker:air just came out of me and I just
Speaker:like.
Speaker:It was so crazy
Speaker:to think that someone
Speaker:had intentionally
Speaker:stolen your money like it was
Speaker:it.
Speaker:It's the craziest
Speaker:feeling of
Speaker:devastation.
Speaker:Like, and so then,
Speaker:like, things started appearing
Speaker:on the news.
Speaker:The local news picked it up.
Speaker:And I mean,
Speaker:there's investors that have been
Speaker:completely wiped out like.
Speaker:You know, grandparents that have put
Speaker:their pension in with
Speaker:him and.
Speaker:Like just.
Speaker:Completely devastated and
Speaker:like, we're not devastated at all.
Speaker:We we it was
Speaker:just part of our whole, you
Speaker:know, portfolio and things like
Speaker:that. It's super sucky.
Speaker:It's, you know, a pain
Speaker:in the butt and it feels
Speaker:really like it
Speaker:feels like you've been.
Speaker:Like a crime has happened to you.
Speaker:You like it's weird.
Speaker:It's so strange.
Speaker:And so while that was happening,
Speaker:was reached out
Speaker:by this production company
Speaker:that was producing shows for
Speaker:it was it wasn't named at
Speaker:first the show
Speaker:because they, you know, see me on
Speaker:HGTV. They knew our story.
Speaker:And so it was
Speaker:they approached me more just about
Speaker:like our story of the win.
Speaker:And, you know, they wanted to hear
Speaker:about it. And so the casting
Speaker:people had contacted me and
Speaker:I met with them and I started
Speaker:doing the interview with the casting
Speaker:director. And she's like,
Speaker:that's a great story.
Speaker:It's not like the lottery stuff
Speaker:was a good story, but
Speaker:the the that show
Speaker:was looking for a little bit more.
Speaker:And so I said, I'm not
Speaker:done yet.
Speaker:I got more of the story.
Speaker:And so we got into.
Speaker:For people that are watching or
Speaker:listening, this is for the show
Speaker:Hustlers, gamblers and Crooks
Speaker:on Max.
Speaker:Yeah, right. Okay.
Speaker:So I think known the
Speaker:show would have been named that
Speaker:would have been maybe if
Speaker:I didn't find out that what the
Speaker:show was going to be named I was
Speaker:when I found out like it,
Speaker:I found out what the show was called
Speaker:like way after I filmed
Speaker:it and stuff. And it
Speaker:was a bit devastating to be part
Speaker:of a show that was called Hustlers,
Speaker:Gamblers, Crooks.
Speaker:But I feel
Speaker:thankful that I get to tell my story
Speaker:and at the end of the day, I'm
Speaker:not one of those people that
Speaker:I'm not a hustler, I'm not a crook,
Speaker:I'm not a gambler.
Speaker:I had something happen to me
Speaker:by a crook.
Speaker:And so my
Speaker:story is, you know,
Speaker:interesting enough to tell
Speaker:it and these extreme things
Speaker:that happened.
Speaker:And, you know, I wanted
Speaker:to put awareness about, you know,
Speaker:what can happen
Speaker:easily, that you can get
Speaker:scammed like it's
Speaker:people are out there that those
Speaker:situations that happen and
Speaker:it's.
Speaker:It's tough.
Speaker:And so
Speaker:I loved filming it, though.
Speaker:It was so fun to go and film
Speaker:and slide.
Speaker:It was like, once.
Speaker:It's in Las Vegas.
Speaker:Yeah. So you go through this casting
Speaker:process, so you meet with the
Speaker:casting. We do like a
Speaker:like a virtual meeting.
Speaker:I tell my story and
Speaker:they liked, you know, my
Speaker:the way I am on camera, I guess,
Speaker:and you know the story that I had to
Speaker:tell. And then I
Speaker:hear that they accepted me
Speaker:so once because
Speaker:then, like, once you do your casting
Speaker:tape or whatever, then they take
Speaker:that to the network because the
Speaker:production companies are different
Speaker:than the actual network.
Speaker:So I didn't actually know what
Speaker:network it was going to be for.
Speaker:When you do its cast,
Speaker:they can they just say a
Speaker:large network or or
Speaker:things like that. They don't tell
Speaker:you like which network
Speaker:or anything like that because
Speaker:they don't think they can because
Speaker:they haven't.
Speaker:Maybe like they're still pitching.
Speaker:It's kind of like a you're part
Speaker:your part of the pitch.
Speaker:Like they get like approved
Speaker:for so much money on the show
Speaker:and the show concept gets approved,
Speaker:but then they kind of have to do
Speaker:this pitch like to the network.
Speaker:So once that all
Speaker:came about, then
Speaker:you sign agreements, releases,
Speaker:you got all the paperwork that you
Speaker:need to sign, then you do the
Speaker:scheduling.
Speaker:So they agreed to pay for my
Speaker:flights, so they paid for my flights
Speaker:to L.A. and back.
Speaker:They paid for my Ubers,
Speaker:which Uber is like so
Speaker:fun. I love Uber is
Speaker:like the most revolutionary
Speaker:thing. I think it's the coolest
Speaker:thing. We don't have Uber where.
Speaker:They didn't have that in Canada, or
Speaker:at least now.
Speaker:They have.
Speaker:Like Uber.
Speaker:They've got it set up in Victoria,
Speaker:just got it.
Speaker:But we don't we're not big enough
Speaker:here, I guess. I don't know.
Speaker:We don't have Uber, but it's like
Speaker:amazing that you can like book a car
Speaker:with your phone.
Speaker:So yeah, they set
Speaker:up these vouchers that were like in
Speaker:Uber, and when I got
Speaker:picked up at the airport, I
Speaker:accidentally might have booked
Speaker:a luxury.
Speaker:At the fancy car.
Speaker:Or like the.
Speaker:Production assistant, when she
Speaker:picked me up, she's like, Yeah, So
Speaker:you got a book the, like, regular?
Speaker:Is that how that works?
Speaker:So yeah, I learned how
Speaker:to use Uber,
Speaker:and then they put me up in a hotel
Speaker:for two nights in Burbank, and
Speaker:then the production assistant
Speaker:picked me up from the hotel.
Speaker:We did the filming all in one day.
Speaker:And like, it's always kind of
Speaker:surreal, like getting on a plane
Speaker:because you're going to be going to,
Speaker:like, film something in L.A.
Speaker:And it was
Speaker:like such a cool experience,
Speaker:even though like, it was like
Speaker:a sucky thing to talk about.
Speaker:And it
Speaker:was. But like the whole experience
Speaker:of going and like,
Speaker:getting to do that was super fun.
Speaker:Was I loved it.
Speaker:That sounds fun.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Really unique opportunity.
Speaker:Yeah. So the other
Speaker:production office that they use
Speaker:there was a few other like
Speaker:shows that are regularly filmed in
Speaker:that production office.
Speaker:So when I get there, they
Speaker:take me into my own green room.
Speaker:Which is.
Speaker:Super fun.
Speaker:It was like, here's all your snacks,
Speaker:here's your own bathroom
Speaker:and your own like sort of place.
Speaker:And they have like a hangar to hang
Speaker:out because I brought a few
Speaker:different outfits. I wasn't sure
Speaker:what I was going to wear. And then
Speaker:you get to meet like the director
Speaker:and like the
Speaker:producer and
Speaker:then the actual like, studio
Speaker:that they actually had set
Speaker:up was the Josh
Speaker:Gates Show.
Speaker:I don't know if you know the
Speaker:show that's on Discovery.
Speaker:It was like his
Speaker:where he does all his talking
Speaker:and like it but they had a green
Speaker:screen set up in front of
Speaker:like all his the all the
Speaker:like background that he uses in his
Speaker:show. And I
Speaker:didn't I never heard of that show.
Speaker:Is that I was like.
Speaker:Is that last Tomb's sunken
Speaker:treasures vanished plant I'm just
Speaker:reading.
Speaker:That.
Speaker:There's a whole different like he
Speaker:has a whole bunch of different shows
Speaker:of like treasures
Speaker:and like he goes hunting for
Speaker:like different things or has
Speaker:like, it's actually his
Speaker:shows are really cool.
Speaker:And so it's the same production
Speaker:company that produces his shows.
Speaker:And then they're they
Speaker:were like, Dr. Pimple
Speaker:Popper is upstairs.
Speaker:You can.
Speaker:Go. And like you, she's filming
Speaker:right now. Like, you could go and
Speaker:say hi. I was like, What?
Speaker:Yeah. So because my husband.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But it's really neat to like.
Speaker:You know, be where those people
Speaker:are and like that that stuff is
Speaker:happening and stuff.
Speaker:And so.
Speaker:So then they get ready and then
Speaker:like, they set you up
Speaker:in the
Speaker:where the filming is.
Speaker:So it's like just a big green screen
Speaker:behind you.
Speaker:And then they they
Speaker:had like kind of like all the
Speaker:questions, kind of like
Speaker:they because they'd seen my
Speaker:interviews. So they kind of they
Speaker:know what you were going to talk
Speaker:about. So then they have specific
Speaker:questions, kind of like steer
Speaker:you in the direction that the
Speaker:director wants you
Speaker:to do.
Speaker:And like they're they're a bit
Speaker:dramatic when they say, like,
Speaker:it was my nightmare.
Speaker:Where you said.
Speaker:No. Well, the director kind of says
Speaker:like, you know what happened here?
Speaker:Like, they kind of like get
Speaker:you to say some dramatic
Speaker:things that, like, you know,
Speaker:it's for this show.
Speaker:It's how they added it together.
Speaker:So it was
Speaker:like
Speaker:but I actually, you know, watching
Speaker:it back when I watched it back of
Speaker:like how they pieced it, how they
Speaker:added it, they did it really,
Speaker:really good. And like, I was really
Speaker:proud of myself the way
Speaker:I talked on the show and how
Speaker:I explained what happened.
Speaker:And it really
Speaker:was very cohesive the way that
Speaker:they edit it and the way
Speaker:it really tells the story
Speaker:really. Like I told the story really
Speaker:good, but they edited it really
Speaker:good. And but I didn't
Speaker:I didn't know, I, I didn't know
Speaker:what the show was going to be about.
Speaker:It was like they
Speaker:had started the production.
Speaker:You know, we have lunch together and
Speaker:like, they talk about kind of like
Speaker:what the show is about and
Speaker:like, what? Because they have to go
Speaker:and interview people
Speaker:and they have to like most people,
Speaker:they were able to do virtual
Speaker:interviews. So they like
Speaker:interviewed, you know, tons
Speaker:of people trying to source
Speaker:content and people and
Speaker:like they talked about the guy
Speaker:who was on a different episode, but
Speaker:that like he was an A bet
Speaker:and he like got that have
Speaker:fake boobs and then like he ended
Speaker:up.
Speaker:Keeping so
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Someone for him to have fake boobs
Speaker:and then he did. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Like some of these stories
Speaker:that like after
Speaker:like I watched, you know, all the
Speaker:stories and like how they
Speaker:pieced together each of the stories
Speaker:that actually the way
Speaker:the stories were.
Speaker:And it was good and it was
Speaker:entertaining. It was like
Speaker:it was a good shows
Speaker:on. I think it's still on streaming.
Speaker:It's on Discovery.
Speaker:They came out this year in March.
Speaker:Is it on Max or.
Speaker:Yeah, I think so, yeah.
Speaker:Discovery Max or because it's now
Speaker:HBO Max or
Speaker:I think in Canada it's on
Speaker:Discovery plus.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I think in the States it's HBO
Speaker:Max or something.
Speaker:I think there was somebody bought
Speaker:somebody out or something.
Speaker:But yeah, it's on there.
Speaker:And the weird
Speaker:thing that's really weird
Speaker:is like, once you have
Speaker:something happen to you, it's like
Speaker:this crime and this, like, crazy
Speaker:thing.
Speaker:You kind of, like, get
Speaker:obsessed about looking up things on
Speaker:the Internet about like, the people
Speaker:that are involved or the
Speaker:situations.
Speaker:And like, I guess he had this
Speaker:partner in California that
Speaker:like, was helping him with mortgage
Speaker:brokering and it was like another
Speaker:arm that they were trying to get
Speaker:going or something.
Speaker:And so supposedly
Speaker:this guy had no idea about what
Speaker:he was doing with this other,
Speaker:you know, short term bridge loan
Speaker:kind of stuff.
Speaker:And there was
Speaker:so I looked him up on Instagram
Speaker:and then he was friends
Speaker:with this guy in Las Vegas
Speaker:that does all this betting.
Speaker:You know, he could see it get to
Speaker:I've seen him tagged in the pictures
Speaker:with him.
Speaker:And then there was a guy that was
Speaker:like on my show, his name's
Speaker:Mickey Mace, and he's crazy gambler
Speaker:like the things that he did was
Speaker:like, crazy, like just
Speaker:millions of dollars in the casinos.
Speaker:And it ended up that
Speaker:those two people are friends.
Speaker:And so it was like this four degrees
Speaker:of separation
Speaker:from my situation
Speaker:that it was like, wow,
Speaker:it's like small world.
Speaker:But that's what social media does.
Speaker:You can find these connections that,
Speaker:like, you didn't
Speaker:expect or, you
Speaker:know, it was like, interesting to
Speaker:see that connection
Speaker:with like.
Speaker:Just situation also
Speaker:happened.
Speaker:But yeah, the.
Speaker:But the
Speaker:where we're at with like
Speaker:what happened to us.
Speaker:The reason why it all played
Speaker:out is that there was one investor
Speaker:that invested like $17 million
Speaker:and the he
Speaker:ended up hiring a lawyer
Speaker:and the lawyer
Speaker:got this guy
Speaker:put into bankruptcy, like forced
Speaker:bankruptcy through the courts.
Speaker:And so that's how it all played out.
Speaker:And then the guy left the country
Speaker:and and like, you know, it
Speaker:was like every day on the news,
Speaker:it was like something more has
Speaker:happened with this crazy
Speaker:mortgage broker that, like, did all
Speaker:these investing.
Speaker:And so then, you know, we're
Speaker:watching all the courts play out.
Speaker:So he gets put into bankruptcy, then
Speaker:the trustee takes over.
Speaker:So then the trustee is the one
Speaker:that's looking at, you know,
Speaker:where are the funds where like
Speaker:they're the ones that get appointed
Speaker:because of the bankruptcy.
Speaker:And in the meantime, the regulator
Speaker:is checking.
Speaker:But like to this day,
Speaker:I mean, it's it's now a year and a
Speaker:half later, it's still no charges
Speaker:have been pressed, no criminal
Speaker:charges.
Speaker:He's only.
Speaker:I have no idea.
Speaker:It's ridiculous.
Speaker:It's like.
Speaker:It's weird.
Speaker:It's strange.
Speaker:It's like the trustee
Speaker:had to.
Speaker:To look and,
Speaker:like. So then the trustee
Speaker:has to contact the banks to
Speaker:say, like, where is this money?
Speaker:And then the banks have to say,
Speaker:we don't have the money.
Speaker:And then the trustee says to say,
Speaker:Well, can you show me where the
Speaker:money went?
Speaker:Say no.
Speaker:And the banks were withholding the
Speaker:information
Speaker:from this trustee.
Speaker:And so then
Speaker:more stuff happens.
Speaker:But like in the meantime, we've
Speaker:given statements to the regulator
Speaker:who's the authority.
Speaker:But like, it's just it's a weird
Speaker:situation and it's kind of like
Speaker:frustrating that it hasn't
Speaker:gotten to
Speaker:it's like held up with the trustee
Speaker:because we were we're
Speaker:all kind of waiting for it.
Speaker:It's called the funds flow analysis
Speaker:of like where the funds went.
Speaker:And so just only
Speaker:just like a month ago,
Speaker:they they went back to court
Speaker:because of this bankruptcy and
Speaker:they haven't finished the funds flow
Speaker:analysis. But they've they've
Speaker:come to the determination that it's
Speaker:a Ponzi.
Speaker:Is like a Ponzi scheme.
Speaker:Yeah. So we I.
Speaker:I had kind of like.
Speaker:But, you know, we
Speaker:all kind of like were suspicious
Speaker:that it was because of
Speaker:like the whole dynamic
Speaker:of what what how
Speaker:it all played out.
Speaker:But
Speaker:we had kind of always
Speaker:thought that it was maybe just a
Speaker:failed, failed business venture.
Speaker:But no, he's actually
Speaker:like scamming,
Speaker:stealing and
Speaker:paying one person.
Speaker:And then, you know, it's like it's a
Speaker:Ponzi. And so.
Speaker:Basically paying paying
Speaker:money from
Speaker:the new investors to
Speaker:the old investors, that gets old
Speaker:like.
Speaker:That. The Internet was just like,
Speaker:yeah. And so, like you,
Speaker:I think it's still to
Speaker:be determined if there was
Speaker:like transaction like how
Speaker:the banks still or like
Speaker:need to supply information
Speaker:and like it all went through
Speaker:the World Bank and the World
Speaker:Bank just got fined $7 million
Speaker:from the like
Speaker:Canadian regulator because
Speaker:they weren't providing documentation
Speaker:that the regulator needed like in
Speaker:general floor to,
Speaker:you know, look so that the
Speaker:regulator can be sure that they're
Speaker:looking for fraudulent transactions.
Speaker:I think there's been a few banks
Speaker:that have had fines lately for
Speaker:not providing documentation that's
Speaker:required in
Speaker:to make sure that,
Speaker:you know, money laundering is not
Speaker:happening and stuff like that.
Speaker:So it's kind of like.
Speaker:Really relevant to what's happening
Speaker:to us to see like.
Speaker:That these banks are getting
Speaker:fined for not
Speaker:providing. And it's like and then
Speaker:this funds flow analysis is taking
Speaker:like so long because
Speaker:what's kind of also happening,
Speaker:which is really frustrating for
Speaker:a lot of the investors that
Speaker:is it's
Speaker:it's impacted our tax returns.
Speaker:So because we were
Speaker:getting investment income we were
Speaker:getting t fives is what it's
Speaker:called when you get investment
Speaker:income.
Speaker:It turns out he wasn't
Speaker:supposed to be giving t fives
Speaker:because only like someone who's
Speaker:licensed for investments
Speaker:can give T for like a bank or
Speaker:something like that.
Speaker:So in the meantime, we
Speaker:done a tax return saying that we
Speaker:got income but we hadn't actually
Speaker:got paid.
Speaker:So we had to do tax returns
Speaker:with income we hadn't received.
Speaker:So now we're having to do this
Speaker:reconciliation of
Speaker:accounts. And
Speaker:in the meantime, like CRA is
Speaker:like is it's kind of like our IRS.
Speaker:It's the same.
Speaker:They're kind of waiting for this
Speaker:funds flow analysis
Speaker:because they need to make a
Speaker:determination for the investors
Speaker:of how we can reconcile our taxes.
Speaker:So it's like this whole loop of like
Speaker:the trustees waiting for the banks
Speaker:and the bank, you know, the
Speaker:taxes are waiting for the
Speaker:the trustee.
Speaker:And like it's all this circle
Speaker:of like things that are
Speaker:getting happened.
Speaker:And in the meantime, like, I think
Speaker:that in order to press criminal
Speaker:charges they needs this funds flow
Speaker:analysis to see that there was
Speaker:actual like criminal activity with
Speaker:funds and it's just
Speaker:it's a mess.
Speaker:well I'm so I'm so sorry
Speaker:to hear that.
Speaker:Like it's taken over
Speaker:the last, like year and a half
Speaker:of our lives of like, what's
Speaker:happened and like that
Speaker:you're just so caught up in, in your
Speaker:involved in like, it's like affects
Speaker:you mentally
Speaker:of like this happened to us and
Speaker:like it's really depressing
Speaker:that you could be
Speaker:involved in that you know and
Speaker:get scammed and like it's so weird.
Speaker:It's not
Speaker:I never
Speaker:thought that would happen or,
Speaker:you know, you know.
Speaker:Like.
Speaker:It's so weird.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm sure it came across
Speaker:as being very legitimate.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:How do you what would you say to
Speaker:people to how to watch out
Speaker:for that type of thing?
Speaker:And also, was there a background
Speaker:check on this person?
Speaker:I did check for like a broker
Speaker:license and on the like
Speaker:authority, like the regulator that
Speaker:regulated him. He did have an active
Speaker:license because he did do
Speaker:mortgage brokering for
Speaker:like residential mortgage
Speaker:broker, like that was his business.
Speaker:And then this,
Speaker:like private lending was kind of
Speaker:like a thing he did on the side kind
Speaker:of thing. So he did have
Speaker:like a legitimate front business.
Speaker:And then it was just sort of this
Speaker:other side of things.
Speaker:And so it's just it's hard
Speaker:to know.
Speaker:Like it's hard to check
Speaker:for scammers, you know,
Speaker:like it's.
Speaker:It's so weird.
Speaker:It's just.
Speaker:It's.
Speaker:You think it's something's legit and
Speaker:it's not. And like, I mean,
Speaker:the returns were good.
Speaker:You have to be
Speaker:conscious of when things are too
Speaker:good to be true, like they probably
Speaker:are. It's like when you look on
Speaker:Facebook marketplace and you're
Speaker:like, that's a good deal.
Speaker:That's a good deal. I mean, you
Speaker:click on it, you're like, it's a
Speaker:scam,
Speaker:you know, but it's evident.
Speaker:Whereas this is like it was this
Speaker:whole facade of like
Speaker:he had people working for him
Speaker:that were like his
Speaker:people to get the investor set up.
Speaker:He had relationships with
Speaker:other like licensed
Speaker:investors that I had checked with
Speaker:to see, you know, how is it for you
Speaker:and stuff like, like it.
Speaker:It was kind of a perfect storm of
Speaker:like.
Speaker:Yeah, it's just weird.
Speaker:But how it all
Speaker:happened.
Speaker:Yeah. Well, I'm so sorry to hear
Speaker:that. It sounds really sophisticated.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And involved.
Speaker:What? What advice would you give
Speaker:to.
Speaker:People that come across
Speaker:sudden wealth or they just have some
Speaker:extra money where they want to
Speaker:invest. How do you watch out for
Speaker:someone?
Speaker:I would say, like
Speaker:right now,
Speaker:looking back, I would have just
Speaker:invested in EFT and
Speaker:got the dividends and
Speaker:lived happily ever after.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And because I think
Speaker:there is risk in the stock market.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:there is or
Speaker:there's, I think, stability
Speaker:in like having a base
Speaker:and then like having that extra
Speaker:money you can kind of play around
Speaker:with and stuff.
Speaker:And it's hard to.
Speaker:What advice to tell people because
Speaker:it's there's
Speaker:so many things you can
Speaker:do right and there's so many things
Speaker:you could risk and do wrong.
Speaker:So it's
Speaker:and I've
Speaker:learned that you can't
Speaker:trust everybody.
Speaker:And advice sometimes is wrong.
Speaker:Like, you know,
Speaker:a lot with
Speaker:online, there's been a lot of
Speaker:like people who have come into
Speaker:wealth because of whatever.
Speaker:If they've invested in short term
Speaker:rentals or if they've invested in,
Speaker:you know, the stock market or
Speaker:there's so much out there that you
Speaker:can just get sucked into the way
Speaker:that it's played out for that
Speaker:person. And then they sell you this
Speaker:course or this thing or this
Speaker:and like you can totally get
Speaker:influenced so easily
Speaker:and it's
Speaker:hard to know who to trust,
Speaker:especially now, like what's happened
Speaker:to us and stuff.
Speaker:I it's hard to have
Speaker:advice.
Speaker:Well, yeah, I hope that they
Speaker:resolve that soon.
Speaker:And you guys are
Speaker:able to get your money back
Speaker:after you.
Speaker:We went through this.
Speaker:You trying to look at what happened
Speaker:with the Bernie Madoff situation?
Speaker:So that's taken, I
Speaker:think, 10 to 12 years
Speaker:of
Speaker:the I think
Speaker:what happened with that is that they
Speaker:assigned the the regulator,
Speaker:like the financial regulator or
Speaker:of security investing in the
Speaker:states. They assigned a working
Speaker:group or like a committee
Speaker:that was specifically only for
Speaker:the Madoff situation.
Speaker:And they basically took
Speaker:the net winners and the net losers
Speaker:and then they evened everybody
Speaker:out, I think is what happened.
Speaker:So like, some people had to pay
Speaker:back.
Speaker:And some in there were.
Speaker:So there's net winners and losers.
Speaker:And so I don't know if this
Speaker:is how this situation is going to
Speaker:play out is like the people
Speaker:because there was people who had it
Speaker:been investing with him for
Speaker:like ten years.
Speaker:Right. And so they've been getting
Speaker:returns and returns and
Speaker:like, you know, they're
Speaker:going to possibly have to pay back.
Speaker:But I don't know.
Speaker:I mean, we were only so
Speaker:recently in it that we're
Speaker:definitely a net loser.
Speaker:So we would get paid
Speaker:back if it.
Speaker:But, I mean, people would have to
Speaker:sell. People just go bankrupt
Speaker:before they would pay,
Speaker:you know, stuff back.
Speaker:So I don't know.
Speaker:It would I don't know if there's
Speaker:any hope. I think the main
Speaker:thing is that we want our taxes, our
Speaker:taxes sorted out so that we
Speaker:can claim the loss
Speaker:on our taxes because we're not there
Speaker:like we were. I'm still working with
Speaker:my accountant or kind of waiting
Speaker:for the C.R.A.
Speaker:to make a ruling on
Speaker:like what kind of loss?
Speaker:Because there's kind of two
Speaker:different losses.
Speaker:There's a capital loss and there's a
Speaker:business loss.
Speaker:So a capital loss is more like
Speaker:if you lost money
Speaker:in a real estate investment,
Speaker:it's like a capital
Speaker:loss where a business
Speaker:loss is something that you're sort
Speaker:of getting interest in income
Speaker:off of regularly and like.
Speaker:So we could spread the loss over a
Speaker:couple of years, which would be more
Speaker:beneficial for us.
Speaker:But a capital loss, you have to
Speaker:claim it in the year that you
Speaker:got that the loss happened.
Speaker:So we're hopeful that
Speaker:it will be more of a business
Speaker:loss and that we can kind of
Speaker:claim it over because then we'll
Speaker:even out on our taxes and stuff
Speaker:like that. And then I
Speaker:don't know if we ever got paid
Speaker:back something, then we have to sort
Speaker:it out later.
Speaker:Yeah, we're just sort of hopeful
Speaker:that that kind of gets reconciled
Speaker:with the tax agency.
Speaker:But I mean, they're all
Speaker:depending on these other people
Speaker:writing the information.
Speaker:So it's kind of a bit of a
Speaker:whole wait
Speaker:waiting game.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. I'm so sorry to hear that.
Speaker:It sounds like I mean, it's really
Speaker:been a whirlwind from
Speaker:winning the lottery this very,
Speaker:you know, wonderful.
Speaker:And now it's wonderful.
Speaker:But it's like
Speaker:it changes your life and, you
Speaker:know, having this happen to us,
Speaker:it's a try to see
Speaker:from every situation of like, what
Speaker:good things happen from
Speaker:even negative things.
Speaker:It's it's still hard to see
Speaker:right now like what's come out.
Speaker:I mean I got to go film
Speaker:that show in L.A.
Speaker:and like the the casting
Speaker:director I said, you know, if if
Speaker:I hadn't had that last what I've
Speaker:been on this show.
Speaker:She said, No, you wouldn't.
Speaker:So, I mean, that was what
Speaker:thing that.
Speaker:But I would have rather not had
Speaker:the loss than
Speaker:if.
Speaker:Yeah it's
Speaker:it's kind of it's just weird how
Speaker:things play out that you
Speaker:don't expect your, you know, turn
Speaker:of events or
Speaker:it's. Yeah, that's what life
Speaker:is though. Life you know has
Speaker:throws those curveballs and stuff
Speaker:like that. I mean yeah
Speaker:it's nobody
Speaker:expected Covid and that happened and
Speaker:like so it's, it's like
Speaker:yeah it's life.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Now it is time to move on.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, yeah, that's.
Speaker:I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker:Yeah, it's.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean, it sounds really
Speaker:weird.
Speaker:Yeah, it's weird to like the.
Speaker:Because what's happened in Canada
Speaker:is
Speaker:I don't know if you've heard that
Speaker:the news agencies are not allowed
Speaker:to post on social media.
Speaker:No. W Have you
Speaker:heard that?
Speaker:No. Yeah.
Speaker:So we
Speaker:like this situation
Speaker:that's happened to us.
Speaker:Like there's been some news media
Speaker:about this guy and like, it's like,
Speaker:so it's on like the 5:00 news,
Speaker:but we can't
Speaker:get you can't even post on social
Speaker:media. Like, I can't share a link
Speaker:from a newspaper
Speaker:and like, stuff like, it's very
Speaker:strange. And so.
Speaker:What has happened to us hasn't
Speaker:been in the media that much, like
Speaker:it hasn't really been.
Speaker:But, you know,
Speaker:because, you know, people
Speaker:have kind of transitioned to getting
Speaker:their their news from social
Speaker:media now. You know, we don't watch
Speaker:TV as much.
Speaker:You kind of engage with social
Speaker:media. So you kind of you have
Speaker:to actually go
Speaker:to the like website of the news
Speaker:agencies and but not
Speaker:as many people do that.
Speaker:I mean, so it's been
Speaker:a bit of a change.
Speaker:The government like
Speaker:this law that like something
Speaker:changed with the media and the media
Speaker:said, okay, we're not posting
Speaker:it. So it's like it
Speaker:hasn't had a lot of awareness about
Speaker:like because
Speaker:like if you think of like
Speaker:the Bernie Madoff thing, I mean, it
Speaker:was a big thing.
Speaker:But this is this is the biggest one
Speaker:in Canada. $300 million
Speaker:is like.
Speaker:But it hasn't really but I don't
Speaker:know if that's because he hasn't had
Speaker:a criminal charge yet, because
Speaker:they haven't charged him
Speaker:yet with anything.
Speaker:So I don't know.
Speaker:Obviously was not predicted.
Speaker:It was terrible
Speaker:and shocking.
Speaker:And yeah, just came
Speaker:out of, you know, not something you
Speaker:expected. But what about
Speaker:things that you do expect
Speaker:in life? Because a lot
Speaker:of people are watching or listening
Speaker:to this are also into
Speaker:the power of visualization and
Speaker:manifestation and that sort
Speaker:of thing. And the last time that we
Speaker:spoke, we spoke briefly
Speaker:a little bit about that.
Speaker:And I was just curious what your
Speaker:thoughts are because you had some
Speaker:things happen before your
Speaker:lottery win
Speaker:that.
Speaker:Yeah, I.
Speaker:I did have some things happen.
Speaker:And I think because you're open to
Speaker:it, you know,
Speaker:it happens. And if you
Speaker:have that mindset and that way of
Speaker:thinking, then.
Speaker:Things were happening.
Speaker:But it's.
Speaker:I feel like.
Speaker:I'm like stuck right now
Speaker:in, like a not.
Speaker:I don't know. I feel like kind of
Speaker:like, where do I go
Speaker:from here? It's like this regrouping
Speaker:of, like and
Speaker:like, it's hard when you have
Speaker:something happen that's in a
Speaker:negative way to
Speaker:it's, it's when you're, when things
Speaker:are positive and things you're like,
Speaker:yeah, that was, that was the sign I
Speaker:got. Or, you know, I had a dream or
Speaker:I had this thing that someone gave
Speaker:me. And, you know, that's,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:And so it's
Speaker:like I have to figure out how
Speaker:to kind of move forward from
Speaker:negativity to kind of get back to
Speaker:that of like, openness
Speaker:to like things happening
Speaker:for a reason or what, You
Speaker:know, it's, it's kind of it gives me
Speaker:a bit of a hit to your
Speaker:sort of mental way
Speaker:being in stuff.
Speaker:I did actually find
Speaker:the person who I
Speaker:talked to about the little I
Speaker:received something at work in the
Speaker:mail. It was a little
Speaker:it's called an organ.
Speaker:She had I had talked to her on the
Speaker:phone and we talked
Speaker:about some something
Speaker:that she was thinking about property
Speaker:that she was buying or something.
Speaker:And I'd helped her over the phone.
Speaker:And then she sent me this lovely
Speaker:note, like just
Speaker:like about a week after our phone
Speaker:call, it appeared at the office and
Speaker:it was like, Here's this
Speaker:like orgone.
Speaker:And it's like, so, you know,
Speaker:this will help you.
Speaker:And then like a month later, we won
Speaker:the lottery and stuff.
Speaker:And like I it
Speaker:was so weird that that kind
Speaker:of happened. And then I'd always
Speaker:I kept I kept I keep it
Speaker:always in my purse and
Speaker:I, I finally figured
Speaker:out who she is.
Speaker:And so I want
Speaker:to go and, like, meet her
Speaker:and talk to her.
Speaker:And so I think
Speaker:I feel like maybe
Speaker:if I think I need to do that
Speaker:and I haven't done that yet.
Speaker:So that's something that maybe
Speaker:we can I can do it.
Speaker:We can talk about it.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:I want to try to film, like meeting
Speaker:with her because she's she
Speaker:doesn't know
Speaker:that that happened to us after, like
Speaker:she and she's
Speaker:kind of like someone who
Speaker:does, you know, readings
Speaker:and she has
Speaker:she makes these organs that have
Speaker:these positive
Speaker:things, you know, when you have
Speaker:these things. So I think it
Speaker:would be neat to connect with her.
Speaker:And so I think I have to do
Speaker:that soon.
Speaker:Yeah, that would be that would be
Speaker:really neat. So what sort of
Speaker:orgone? Like what what exactly was
Speaker:it?
Speaker:It's like a little
Speaker:it's like an a poxy thing that's
Speaker:like a little it.
Speaker:And it has things that are inside of
Speaker:it that have like
Speaker:maybe
Speaker:metaphysical qualities in the
Speaker:rocks or the things that.
Speaker:And I think it stems
Speaker:from a bit of a Scottish thing
Speaker:I think is an orgone and
Speaker:which is kind of neat because I'm
Speaker:like Mckenzie's.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:I think it was a really neat gesture
Speaker:that somebody did for me.
Speaker:And, and so I,
Speaker:you know, want to
Speaker:kind of re regroup and see,
Speaker:you know, thank her
Speaker:for her kind gesture
Speaker:and and stuff like that.
Speaker:So I think that I should do that.
Speaker:But I don't want to, I,
Speaker:I, I want her to figure out who
Speaker:I am until I actually meet her in
Speaker:person.
Speaker:Speaking about meeting in person,
Speaker:have you had people what sort of
Speaker:reactions do you get?
Speaker:Reactions from anyone on the street
Speaker:that has seen you on any of these
Speaker:shows or.
Speaker:No, no, nobody.
Speaker:Like I.
Speaker:I think like once when we were on
Speaker:vacation in Mexico, somebody
Speaker:recognized my husband.
Speaker:And then I went, I, I
Speaker:when I took my. Graham, No, I took
Speaker:my kids.
Speaker:We, I took my kids on an Alaska
Speaker:cruise like two years ago.
Speaker:And we I, it was so
Speaker:fun. I loved taking them on a
Speaker:cruise. I used to work on cruise
Speaker:ships.
Speaker:So taking my kids back
Speaker:and showing them like where I used
Speaker:to work and the fun things I used to
Speaker:do and stuff.
Speaker:And it was we had the best time.
Speaker:And I sat down when
Speaker:the first day we got on the ship and
Speaker:then we go up to the deck and we sit
Speaker:on the lounge chairs and
Speaker:I sit next to this,
Speaker:this lady, and she was so nice.
Speaker:We started talking and she was like
Speaker:from close to where I lived.
Speaker:And she said, I recognize
Speaker:you.
Speaker:And I was like, Well, I don't know.
Speaker:Like, do you know?
Speaker:Do you know do where do you live
Speaker:and stuff?
Speaker:And she's like,
Speaker:I just I recognize you.
Speaker:Well, do you watch HGTV?
Speaker:And she said.
Speaker:Yes, that's you.
Speaker:And I said, Yeah.
Speaker:That was nice.
Speaker:And then, but it was so
Speaker:neat. And. It was like I made
Speaker:friends with them and we hung out
Speaker:the rest of the cruise.
Speaker:We like had dinners together
Speaker:and like it was just such
Speaker:a great.
Speaker:You know, people don't fan girl.
Speaker:They just like want they love
Speaker:hearing your story.
Speaker:They love hearing what happened to
Speaker:us. And like, it's
Speaker:it's such a great story to share.
Speaker:And so it was neat to have
Speaker:someone, like, recognize me and
Speaker:knew me from that story.
Speaker:I haven't been to Vegas, so I don't
Speaker:know if like I go to Vegas.
Speaker:If anything,
Speaker:I'd like to go to
Speaker:do some do a trip
Speaker:to Vegas and I think that would be
Speaker:fun.
Speaker:Yeah, it's such a such a fun city.
Speaker:Although it doesn't have the
Speaker:lottery, it's it's
Speaker:no surprise. And they don't offer
Speaker:the the lottery out of all of the
Speaker:gambling.
Speaker:Like you can't buy lottery tickets.
Speaker:They don't sell them in the state of
Speaker:Nevada.
Speaker:So what?
Speaker:Powerball?
Speaker:Yeah. No Powerball.
Speaker:Everyone goes.
Speaker:Well, not everyone, but
Speaker:it's crazy.
Speaker:If you take a road trip
Speaker:across the United States and you're
Speaker:in the corner of.
Speaker:Like, right where California and
Speaker:Nevada meet.
Speaker:There's this store
Speaker:that's literally just over
Speaker:the border in California.
Speaker:And all the people from a
Speaker:lot of people from Nevada go there.
Speaker:And there's these lines around the
Speaker:store to buy lottery tickets
Speaker:because they're in Nevada.
Speaker:Yeah, I did not know that.
Speaker:Yeah, it's.
Speaker:Pretty hard to believe.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:I, I when we went to Disneyland,
Speaker:I bought I bought tickets for the
Speaker:Powerball.
Speaker:Because I think you.
Speaker:Can win as a Canadian.
Speaker:You can actually win
Speaker:if you're like if you buy the ticket
Speaker:in person or whatever.
Speaker:I think there's it's
Speaker:still I heard it still work
Speaker:this.
Speaker:Yeah, you can definitely win as a
Speaker:foreign, you know, as a
Speaker:nonresident and you could still go
Speaker:out and win and that would be a
Speaker:story to tell.
Speaker:My God.
Speaker:Lottery jackpot.
Speaker:Yeah, I know.
Speaker:I hope I can win another one.
Speaker:I'm. I'm trying to I'm still
Speaker:doing you know, I still play the
Speaker:B.C. Children's Hospital.
Speaker:Jimmy Kimmel had one that he just
Speaker:did for hospital.
Speaker:Cause I think if he had taken his
Speaker:son to the hospital.
Speaker:So then, like, they were doing a
Speaker:hospital, a lottery.
Speaker:So I bought those tickets and
Speaker:there's like a lot of fundraisers.
Speaker:Like especially nowadays,
Speaker:things are more virtual and stuff.
Speaker:There's a lot of like raffles and
Speaker:I the hockey we like
Speaker:our kids are both in hockey and they
Speaker:always do 5050s.
Speaker:So ah, I do enter those and
Speaker:I do actually win those
Speaker:so.
Speaker:Well yeah.
Speaker:We will have to.
Speaker:When that happens, we're going to
Speaker:have to book the next interview,
Speaker:that third, third interview.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's totally possible.
Speaker:We're here with Lana Mckenzie.
Speaker:Lana, where can people
Speaker:find you?
Speaker:Are you on social media?
Speaker:I am L'antigene zero zero.
Speaker:That's my Instagram.
Speaker:I'm hopeful that I'm going to have
Speaker:a YouTube channel.
Speaker:Welcome to me.
Speaker:Do a little videos about me
Speaker:in my life.
Speaker:So yeah, I would love to see
Speaker:people reach out to me on social
Speaker:media and
Speaker:I try to do some engaging
Speaker:videos.
Speaker:For.
Speaker:Fun.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And we will put links to
Speaker:those in the shownotes.
Speaker:If you're listening to this or in
Speaker:the description of this
Speaker:video, if you're watching on
Speaker:YouTube.
Speaker:But Lana,
Speaker:I really, really appreciate your
Speaker:time today.
Speaker:It sounds like you have really been
Speaker:through so much and
Speaker:your lottery story
Speaker:and experience is very inspiring.
Speaker:And it's just everything is
Speaker:You've been through a lot.
Speaker:Is there anything else that you
Speaker:wanted to say today that I
Speaker:didn't ask or that you just want to
Speaker:say today?
Speaker:I just I want to say thanks
Speaker:to you. Like having the connection
Speaker:that I made with
Speaker:you and your, you know, stories
Speaker:that you tell, I think
Speaker:and even reconnecting five
Speaker:years later and you
Speaker:kind of like if there's
Speaker:you hear about something and you
Speaker:tell me and just us having that
Speaker:relationship, I think it's really
Speaker:great. And I love your channel
Speaker:and what you've done on your channel
Speaker:and the stories that you tell
Speaker:or I think it's really neat.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thank you very much.
Speaker:And your story is very,
Speaker:very inspiring.
Speaker:With the lottery win and with your
Speaker:family. I hope they're doing well.
Speaker:But it's.
Speaker:Yeah, it's.
Speaker:They're great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's great to see you again.
Speaker:Yeah, you as well.
Speaker:And I hope they resolve.
Speaker:I hope that all the legal
Speaker:all that stuff gets
Speaker:you to meet sooner.
Speaker:Sooner than later.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So. But, yeah.
Speaker:Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker:Thank you. It's so nice to see.
Speaker:You again, too.
Speaker:So that was my interview with Linda
Speaker:McKenzie. Now, what did you think
Speaker:about this interview?
Speaker:Let me know your thoughts by
Speaker:commenting under the YouTube page.
Speaker:For this interview, we will put a
Speaker:link to it along with all the other
Speaker:important links in the show notes.
Speaker:Remember, anything and everything
Speaker:is possible.
Speaker:Thank you so much for listening
Speaker:today and thank you for your
Speaker:support.
