B.C. man who defrauded former Google exec gets house arrest
Dan Keith Andersen of Kelowna was convicted of fraud and theft against Bart Woytowicz
A Kelowna man who defrauded one of Google's original executives out of $2 million US must serve two years of house arrest, a B.C. judge has ruled.
Dan Keith Andersen, 59, was convicted of fraud and theft last year for swindling Bart Woytowicz, Google's first director of advertising and sales. He was sentenced last month to a conditional term of two years less a day.
The charges began with an agreement for Woytowicz to transfer $2 million US to a company that Andersen owned, on the understanding that it would not be touched.
Instead, Andersen transferred the money to a Spanish company called Rubix Project Management, expecting to get 100 times his investment in return. Those returns did not materialize.
"What happened in this case, in a sense, is similar to the Ponzi schemes ... where victims are defrauded by unscrupulous and unsavoury characters," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill said in his Oct. 26 reasons for sentence.
"Mr. Andersen, too, was defrauded by Rubix. The problem is that it was not his money he put at risk, it was Mr. Woytowicz's money."
No 'clean hands' in deal
But the judge added that Andersen wasn't the only party in the deal who was motivated by greed.
Woytowicz only agreed to transfer the money to Andersen's company to give it the illusion of financial health. He expected the proceeds from Andersen's deal with Rubix would allow Andersen to buy out Woytowicz's investment in a 3D video company.
"Mr. Woytowicz did not come to the arrangement he made with Mr. Andersen with clean hands. He too was motivated by greed," Weatherill said.
The judge said the circumstances of the fraud set Andersen apart from scammers who prey on the elderly and other vulnerable victims, and that otherwise he has been nothing but a law-abiding citizen.
Weatherill said there would be little risk to the public from Andersen serving a conditional sentence.
Since Andersen was charged, Woytowicz has obtained a civil judgment against him for the return of the money, and so far has recovered about $450,000, according to the sentencing decision. But the judge said it was unlikely Andersen would be able to pay back the full amount.