(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA – A Kelowna Supreme Court judge has detangled a complicated international web of theft, lies and money that centred around a Kelowna man who defrauded a former Google executive of more than $2 million. 

But the judge also figured out that Dan Keith Andersen never profitted from his crime because he, too, was scammed.

Andersen owned several companies in Kelowna in 2010 and was working several international deals for patents he owned. Among those interests was a company called Danimal, which secured a $2 million loan from Bart Woytowicz of California. According to a recently released court judgement, Woytowicz became wealthy when he got in on the ground floor of search giant Google.

Justice Gary Weatherill said in his judgement released this week that Woytowicz was also involved in a company called Parallax, a 3D video company, and was trying to sell to Andersen.

The two met in 2010 and Andersen told Woytowicz that he had a buyer for his patents and other interests, if he could prove to a Spanish company called Rubix that he had “significant funds.” According to Andersen, Rubix was prepared to pay $200 million for his patents and company.

Woytowicz was chasing losses in Parallax and was trying to recoup his investments. Andersen presented his way out; he simply needed $2 million in a bank account for Danimal to show the Spanish company. Once the sale went through, he said he would buy Woytowicz out of Parallax for $4.2M USD.

They agreed in writing the money would not be moved out of the account and would be repaid by Sept. 30, 2010 along with $500,000 interest.

In August 2010 Woytowicz transferred $2M USD into Danimal’s bank account in Kelowna, after getting assurances from HSBC bank and Andersen's accountant that only he or his representative had signing authority for the money. 

But it appears there was some confusion in the bank about who had control. Just a few days later on Aug. 10, 2010, Andersen returned to the bank alone and transferred all the cash to Rubix.

It is not clear from the judgement why Andersen gave the money to Rubix, but Weatherill says neither men ever saw the $2 million again.

“It is apparent that the accused was the victim of a scam by unscrupulous agents or owners of Rubix,” Weatherill writes.

By the end of September, 2010, Woytowicz “became worried” about his money and attempted to contact Andersen without success. He flew back to Kelowna, went to the RCMP and began civil proceedings.

It wasn’t until months later that he found out that the money was gone.

Andersen was charged with fraud and theft over $5,000 and represented himself in Kelowna Supreme Court trial which lasted more than two weeks.

“Most of his submissions were rambling, repetitive and to a large extent, incoherent,” Weatherill said. “Much of the accused’s submissions were not based on evidence before the court. To the extent that they were based on evidence, he massaged the evidence in an effort to deflect attention away from him causing Danimal to transfer Mr. Woytowicz’s funds out of Danimal’s account.”

Andersen blamed his lawyer, his accountant, his bank and even Woytowicz, who he says misled him from the beginning.

“(Andersen) says things were happening so fast and so furious in early August 2010, that no one had time to read the documents prepared by (the lawyer) including the Loan Agreement. He says everyone misunderstood that the money was to stay in Danimal’s account. Right from the first day, he argues, there was miscommunication and misunderstanding.”

“This was a very large wheel that went off the tracks,” Andersen said.

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