It was an otherwise typical fall day, last October, in downtown Toronto for retired stockbroker and accredited investor James Statham, when he says he bumped into one of his sailing partners from the National Yacht Club, on the street.
At the time, Statham understood his sailing friend to be working for a financial technology company. But the chance encounter led the 64-year-old to learn more about the firm, as he was introduced to the sailing partner’s boss, a 41-year-old entrepreneur by the name of Robert Ronning.
Ronning, a Kelowna-area resident, was in the midst of pitching investments for Vancouver-headquartered digital payment processor Orchard Technology Inc., as its CEO and co-founder.
The following day Statham says the trio had dinner at the club, where Ronning made a convincing pitch to Statham, showing him a digital company brochure featuring two prominent co-founders: celebrity investor Wes Hall, from CBC’s Dragon’s Den and television personality Ben Mulroney, the son of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
Mulroney's pitch sealed investor's confidence
The brochure included an online video, via Vimeo, featuring Mulroney, and stated the company had already raised $8 million.
And, said Mulroney, “Orchard is receiving support from our investor base, which includes a former world leader, A-list celebrities and the nation’s top private equity investor.”
The brochure claimed its unique model would undercut ubiquitous FinTech giants such as Moneris and Square.
“Orchard’s cost-plus-zero model will lead to explosive growth. It positions us to attract more customers than any other FinTech, including more customers to sell more products to,” stated Mulroney.
The brochure also claimed projected revenues of $833 million within five years. And in doing so the company would assert itself as a leader in social justice.
“Together we have a vision to be the most inclusive financial institution in the country; to support Canada’s small minority businesses including women, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-owned businesses,” said Mulroney.
Meanwhile, Hall, who’s public image is informed by picking business winners, extolled the company’s social virtues: “I’m excited to be an investor in Orchard,” he stated in the brochure.
“I’m always looking for ways to serve the underserved and underrepresented. Orchard will transform the ability for small businesses to survive and thrive,” stated Hall.
Statham said the brochure and the since-removed video was enough to convince him to invest $50,000 in exchange for 200,000 common shares of Orchard.
Investor second-guesses venture; Hall and Mulroney depart
Fast-forward four months, Statham began second-guessing his investment, when he claims his sailing friend informed him around last February that the company’s accounts were nearly drained and it was nowhere close to achieving its bullish goals.
Come last May, Statham discovered Orchard had filed a claim against Ronning in Supreme Court of B.C., leading Statham to discover Ronning was not who he appeared to be.
Ronning was, in fact, a former B.C. realtor with a history of professional misconduct, criminal behaviour and bankruptcy leading to a trail of unpaid personal and corporate debts. His actual name is Robert Zoost.
On June 5, Statham filed a lawsuit against Orchard and Mulroney, the company’s chief impact officer, for “fraudulent and/or negligent misrepresentations” and omissions.
“In co-founding Orchard, Mulroney knew or ought to have known about Ronning’s troubled past, including various legal troubles and claims against Ronning and his alias names,” states the claim in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
According to Statham’s claim, Orchard’s claim against Ronning alleges “Ronning abused his position in order to misappropriate funds from Orchard and from its personnel to cover these personal debts and liabilities.”
Ronning is accused of creating a “toxic work environment” and threatening Orchard’s “public perception” by “public drug use and gambling” and “by making racist, sexist, and other inappropriate comments” toward staff.
“Ronning engaged in the lavish expenditure of company funds beyond all boundaries set by the Board of Directors and the Expense Policy that he himself approved for the Company,” the Orchard claim states, according to Statham’s filing.
On June 13, Mulroney announced on social media he “decided to step away” from Orchard “in pursuit of new opportunities.”
On June 20, Statham, Mulroney and Ronning all signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA); however, Statham says the settlement expired when he was not paid. As such, the claim remains open after the parties failed to execute the NDA, Statham told Glacier Media in an interview.
Statham continues to seek $150,000 in damages from each of Orchard and Mulroney, both of whom have not responded in court.
Mulroney, former anchor for Your Morning and UNICEF ambassador for Canada, was asked via his counsel if he would speak to Statham’s claim and how he came to know Ronning and join Orchard.
"I have not been employed by Orchard for over 4 months. At the time of my departure, it was my understanding that this matter was settled between Orchard and Mr. Statham. As the matter is now before the courts again, I will have no further comment other than to wish all the parties well,” stated Mulroney via Walied Soliman, chair of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP.
Via a spokesperson for Hall’s WeShall Investment Inc., Hall also claims to have distanced himself from the company.
“Mr. Hall is a strong supporter of Canadian small businesses and underserved entrepreneurs.
“In its early days, Mr. Hall, through WeShall Investments Inc., supported the vision of Orchard to level the playing field as it relates to financial inclusion for underrepresented entrepreneurs. When it became clear that the vision of the leadership of the business diverged from WeShall’s principles, WeShall immediately ceased any involvement with the business well before any lawsuits involving the company or its leadership came to light."
When asked how Hall met Ronning and who placed Ronning as CEO, Hall’s spokesperson responded: “Mr. Hall was never involved in management decisions and never sat on the board. Mr. Hall’s role was to provide advice related to helping underrepresented entrepreneurs achieve their best.”
Statham said his claim highlights the importance of due diligence.
“The reason why I invested is because I thought I had the son of a prime minister promoting a company,” said Statham, adding his mistake was not investigating the company’s claims and its leadership himself.
Who is Robert Ronning?
The public record shows Ronning first came under public scrutiny as a young realtor named Robert Zoost, when the Vancouver Sun reported in 2009 that his claims of being a successful luxury real estate agent were overstated.
It was then that his regulatory history came to light, as Ronning found himself working as a realtor on Vancouver Island in 2007, where he was suspended for three weeks by the Real Estate Council of BC for accepting a $2,500 marketing fee as payment.
Ronning reportedly moved to Kelowna where his public sales claims were questioned and he was subsequently dismissed by his managing broker at Premier Canadian Properties, in May 2009.
On Dec. 1, 2009, Ronning was convicted of assaulting two women, including his then girlfriend, on March 20, 2008. Prior to this, Ronning had reportedly been investigated for another assault. Ronning was placed on probation with a restraining order, Kelowna court records show.
On Aug. 2, 2010, Ronning filed for bankruptcy, then owing $93,460 — an amount that remains undischarged to this day, as he has yet to meet the conditions of his court order, according to filings with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
Thereafter, Ronning switched his public name from Robert Zoost to his current incarnation but was also known by Robert Raymond (his middle name) to some people, via social media accounts and business documents.
In 2012, according to a Robert Ronning LinkedIn profile, Ronning founded Dominion Card Services and became a digital payment industry consultant: “Most seriously, Robert is committed to closing the ethics gap that plagues the Canadian Payment industry,” it states.
In 2014, Ronning was convicted of criminal harassment, stemming from a Nov. 1, 2013 incident in Lumby, according to court records.
Now, at least two companies Ronning co-founded face multiple lawsuits, including that from Statham.
In the Supreme Court of B.C., Orchard faces litigation from Yama Investments Inc. and Simsim Inc. for $610,000 for alleged breach of contract (non-payment). That claim was filed in August and Orchard has not responded to it.
Ronning also faces a $12,304 claim, filed last March, from law firm Harper Grey LLP, for unpaid legal fees. There is no response to that claim, either.
Glacier Media was unable to reach Ronning, via email and telephone contacts provided to Glacier Media from multiple sources, and no one from Orchard responded from an email address published on its website.
Prior to Orchard, Ronning founded PayVida Solutions with business partner Ryan Strauss, also from the Kelowna area. The company was never registered under Ronning but was done so under Strauss.
But, "Ronning leads all strategic business development aspects of the company," noted Ronning in a paid yahoo!finance article.
While PayVida also offered digital payment solutions it failed to pay its salespeople.
On April 25, the Supreme Court of B.C. ordered PayVida to pay consultants of KIS Payments Michael Spetko, Jennifer Belik and Rick Owen just over $548,000 in damages and an estimated $300,000 worth of company shares.
However, speaking to Glacier Media, Spetko expressed little confidence in seeing his money from PayVida.
“We’re left with a shell,” to deal with, said Spetko.
“It was financially stressful,” stated Spetko.
It’s unclear where Ronning’s next business venture is. Following PayVida, Ronning and Strauss worked as consultants with RAYL Innovations, according to its CFO Jeremy Wright, an accountant who was also PayVida’s CFO, until October 2019.
Wright told Glacier Media, “there was nothing special about PayVida; it was a reseller of [Elavon Payment Solutions].”
Wright said although PayVida closed down its operations he brought Ronning over to RAYL, as “I thought Rob had some interesting ideas.”
The consulting relationship between RAYL and Ronning ended in July 2021, according to Wright.
“We were in the process of developing payments software,” said Wright.
