Ponzi suspect extradited to Canada

A MAN accused of defrauding more than $4 million from 179 investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme was extradited from Panama earlier this week and will remain in a Nova Scotia, Canada, jail until at least Tuesday .

Quintin Earl Sponagle, former head of Jabez Financial Services, fled to Panama while he was being investigated for fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000.
His wife said Friday that her husband is innocent and “we’re thanking God for his innocence.” Police, however, allege Sponagle left a trail of victims stung by significant financial losses. Reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
“There were a lot of people in Nova Scotia that lost their life savings that were very hard done by this,” said RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Inspector Glenn Lambe said in an interview.
Canada sought Sponagle’s extradition and he was arrested in April 2013 by Panamanian authorities. After exhausting several appeals, Sponagle was finally brought back to Canada.
 “It is our policy and our belief in the RCMP that if you commit a criminal act against citizens of Canada… then we will search for you wherever you go,” Lambe said.
Earlier this week RCMP officers with Nova Scotia’s federal serious and organized crime unit travelled to Panama and escorted Sponagle back to the province.
He appeared in Windsor provincial court on Friday and remains in custody. He will return to court Dec. 2 for what is expected to be a lengthy bail hearing.
“My husband is innocent and we’re thanking God for his innocence,” his wife, Shelley Sponagle, said outside the courtroom. “The word of God says that all things are working together for our good because we love God and we’re called according to his purposes.”
Jabez Financial was shut down after complaints from investors, many of whom were recruited from Rock Church in Lower Sackville and other congregations.
A 2011 securities commission heard that investors couldn’t resist the promise of turning $10,000 into $1 million in less than four years.They liquidated their RRSPs and even a child’s inheritance.
Sponagle used their money like it was his own personal bank account, the commission heard.