I wonder if Al Gosling ever watched 100 Huntley Street Christian TV?

This is Al Gosling...This is Ron Mainse and his wife...Ann

This is Reynold Mainse and his wife...Kathy“I am on a “retreat” at the moment… in a stage of collecting my thoughts and preparing for the next stage of my life.”

Another way to say all that, ‘I am enjoying a few days away from the grind and doing a lot of thinking.’ But in the middle of it all I have been shocked to my very core. Here is what happened…

Yesterday’s shock Number Two…
You will see the photo of the old man - above(Photo by Andrew Wallace of The Star). This is Al Gosling. He was about 82 in the Photo – taken September 17, 2009 – 27 days ago. Last weekend he died – surrounded only by one friend – Harry Kopyto.

Joe Fiorito, a columnist with The Star, brought his death to my attention when he wrote his piece, “One Old Man died. Shame on all of us”. I read Joe’s words and have been stirred deeply by his reflections. (To read all that Joe has written – see the Link Below.)

The background story for Al is as follows according to Joe… Quote…
Now let me be blunt: old men die all the time – and Al was 82 years old – but I wonder if he would have died like this had he not been evicted by the Toronto Community Housing Corp.

Let me remind you:

Al came home one day some months ago and found that the lock on the door of his bachelor apartment had been changed.

With nowhere to go, he slept for a week under the stairs in the building that had been his home. He went from the stairs to a shelter, where it seems he picked up an infection. He went from the shelter to a clinic and, finally, he went to the hospital, and his last bed.

From there to the grave.

Al was a long-term tenant of the Toronto Community Housing Corp. In recent years, he may have had some trouble with his rent. I suspect the trouble was bureaucratic.

According to TCHC, Al neglected to fill out his annual declaration of income a couple of years in a row; the declaration is a requirement if your rent is geared to income. In the absence of such a valuable declaration, TCHC hit Al with market rent and he ran up arrears and was threatened with eviction.

TCHC says it tried to get through to Al, to reason with him. I am no judge of what they did or did not do. All I know is that, in the end, they threw him out. ~ End Quote

Thanks Joe for letting me look into Al’s life in the last few – You have my attention. Something should be done. Who? Why? What will happen next? How many more like Al are out there and will die this week because of absolute stupidity? This last statement I want to shout out as LOUD AS I CAN FROM MY COMPUTER KEYBOARD!!!!

This really is so stupid that there are not words for it!

Pause… take a deep breath and… are you ready for the next one…?

Yesterday’s Shock Number One…
Before leaving for my retreat yesterday I sat with my mother and my wife to watch 100 Huntley Street TV program. In our area we see this at 9 AM on Global TV.

Another minister I know was hosting the program again. Rev. Jim Cantelon, a fellow pastor and leader was speaking to the camera along with Moira Brown. They were about to interview another minister that I know as well, Rev. Ron Mainse. Ron is a son of the Rev. David Mainse, the founder of Crossroads Communications – the parent company over the ‘Canadian Christian Television empire’. Ron also served as the President of Crossroad Communication.

From time to time over this past year I had watched the 100 Huntley Street program. Losing my job as Pastor, being on E.I., then heading into the self employed benefit program (SEB) left me time to re-order my thinking.

During this time some of the words of Ron Mainse, his sincerity and that of his wife came through to me. Other days of the week, his brother Reynold Mainse and his wife hosted the program. Two great couples were carrying on their Dad’s ministry.

I know all these people. Either because of TV or because I have met them in person.

The shock came out of the blue! Ron and his wife, as well as Reynold and his wife, had not been on TV for a long time… at least since last spring. Ron was about to explain why that had taken place… with Jim Cantelon interviewing him.

Ron and his brother had involved themselves in a “Ponzi” scheme where they had invited their friends and relatives to join into an ‘unbelievable opportunity’. The ‘opportunity’ would pay the participants 1% to 5% - PER WEEK on their money that was invested! NO KIDDING – that is a whack of money to be made – FAST!

Ron had met a friend at the church he attended. The friend, Gordon Driver, had also worked at 100 Huntley for a period of time. He was a great guy.

Gordon had developed this ‘unbelievable opportunity’(U.O.) and presented it to Ron – and others. Ron had then invested some of his money into Gordon’s U.O. Then Ron brought a friend or relative to Gordon. They in turn invested their money with Gordon. Then Ron was paid between 1% and 5% that week – on all the money that each person had brought willingly for this U.O. They in turn brought more people and each received their 1% to 5% that week.

So if one of the friends or relatives put in $10,000 – Ron received from $100 to $500 that next week. If Ron signed up six people that together brought in say $75,000 for Gordon… Ron got $3750 the next week!

WOW! Look at the money that was flowing. Ron could now pay off his home’s mortgage which was likely pretty big…just like everyone else. Ron could then also pay into 100 Huntley Street’s ministry – supporting the work even more than before – and maybe by doing that encourage even more people in Canada to do the same.

Ron’s financial problems would be reduced to almost nothing. He could live much better than ever… provide for his kids… pay off his mortgage and simply leave the old “poor ministry” behind. He involved his own kids – who also invested into Gordon’s company.

The people that Ron signed up – signed other people up as well. From what has been written so far – they would receive between 1% to 5% as well… and Ron potentially would get a small piece of that sign up… (here I am guessing based on other presentations that I have sat through by other ‘Gordon’s’ in my life).

Now using the Ponzi Scheme and using the $75,000 – Ron would get $750 of that next $75,000 for his friend’s sign up-ees… and his friend would get the initial $3750 – the same as Ron got when he signed up his friend. So – on that particular $75,000 – Gordon paid out $4500 and kept $70,500 – which they thought he was investing to make the huge amounts of MORE Money.

Gordon and Reynold are considered under the law and in terms of Ponzi Schemes – “FINDERS”. They are like the lure at the end of my fishing line… wiggled just right… jerking just at the right time… someone will bite. And every sucker that is hungry will BITE!

All total in this particular scheme there appears to be about 100 people in Canada and the USA. Gordon has a place in Hamilton and Las Vegas.

Ron mentioned that he knew of about 65 that he was involved with.(I am not sure of that exact number being correct).

The press said the charges laid against Gordon show that at least $14 Million was caught up in this scam. YES READ IT AGAIN – that is FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS – hard earned dollars from good people that trusted the story of the person that they knew well – that had shown them the very real cheques that Gordon’s company had sent him…! They had noticed the new car their friend was driving as well and the other perks that were coming their way.

Everyone was getting richer and richer. And most of all its was happening faster and faster. WHY NOT MORTGAGE YOUR HOME? Get money out of your home and place it into the U.O. and see it double – triple and multiply over night!

If the Mainse brothers are involved, and they are ministers, why shouldn’t I????!? I mean these guys are on TV and they are almost famous. Why would they ever get into something that was dangerous? Look at the way that they live… good solid Christians… that are BEING BLESSED OUT OF THEIR SOCKS! GOD IS SO GOOD!

When the authorities stopped Gordon Driver he had very little money in his accounts… A web site entitled Stock Watch states…Quote…
“Of the $14.1-million the scheme allegedly raised, the SEC says Mr. Driver used $1.1-million for personal expenses and $10.7-million to pay purported returns to investors in Ponzi fashion. He only used $3.7-million to trade futures, and rather than making the substantial profits that he represented to investors, he actually incurred $3.55-million in trading losses, the SEC alleges.”

And…

“Some investors in the scheme received false statements, which purported to show their account balances and returns, the SEC claims. In late February, 2009, Mr. Driver sent 48 investors a statement on Axcess letterhead which showed that their account balances totalled approximately $9.6-million, according to the complaint. "In fact, at the end of December, Driver only had about $276,162 in all of his accounts: $265,388 in his bank accounts and $10,774 in one trading account," the SEC alleges.

The SEC also claims that Mr. Driver sent one finder a fabricated account trading statement in October, 2008, which stated that Axcess had approximately $34.7-million, when it actually had just $10,774. The finder continued to raise money from investors after receiving the statement, the SEC says.”
~ end Quote

$14 Million real dollars disappeared from real people. Some of it came back as a BLESSING – but in reality they got back $4500 and gave away $70,500 – just like throwing it out the window!!! With Gordon Driver holding out a bucket to catch it!

Ron Mainse was removed as President of Crossroad Communication in May or June of 2009. Yesterday as he spoke the TV footer on the screen still shows him as “President”. Kind of confusing…

All the “finders” took home $700,000 from the $14 Million…

I am shocked because some high profile Christians got away with murder… Gordon Driver being one… and the finders being the others.

Ron Mainse stated yesterday that he has paid back or is paying back all the “Finders Fees” that he received – into a ‘trust fund’ held buy the Ontario Securities Commission. So with some simple thinking here – Ron Mainse now has a much bigger mortgage, maybe or maybe not - no new car or two… and no job.

Now back to my Shock Number Two…
Al Gosling died last weekend. Very sick and alone at 82 years old. My simple wondering today asks one question. I wonder if Al Gosling ever watched 100 Huntley Street Christian TV?

I think 100 Huntley Street Christian TV – and its leadership forgot who they should be looking at. Al Gosling was a far safer person to look at – than Gordon Driver.

I am in SHOCK today. And I am truly sorry if this report SHOCKS you. But really – I hope that IT DOES SHOCK YOU TOO!

I am praying for Ron and Reynold – and their families… as well as the approximately 100 “investors” today.

God help us all!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
(with apologies for this very loooonnnng Blog Posting of 1965 words)

Source:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/709181--fiorito-one-old-man-died-shame-on-us
http://www.stockwatch.com/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=Z-C:*SEC-1606901
http://www.religiousrightalert.ca/2009/06/06/ron-and-reynold-mainse-removed-from-100-huntley-street-victims-of-ponzi-scheme/

http://www.100huntley.com/video.php?id=BWZCfTdtEEk
http://www.100huntley.com/video.php?id=Z3RyFkAip2U
http://www.100huntley.com/video.php?id=1EI2UsfsBws