The Butler, it seems, truly did it.
Turns out he never had their backs.
In fact, he allegedly took the shirts off a Vernon couple's backs.
The retired couple – we will call them Lois and Brian to protect their identities – fell victim to an online and cell phone scam involving the use of a sitting Canadian federal government minister that has cost them thousands from a pair of banking institutions' lines of credit they carry.
The scam was perpetrated by a man calling himself Georg Butler.
"His picture appeared somewhere and he was an older man," said Lois. "He got nervous during a phone call when I asked him where his accent was from. He said, 'Why do you ask?' I said, 'I have a thing for accents.' He said, 'I guess you could say the Netherlands.' He was getting a little jumpy. Then, he stopped communicating."
The couple, both collecting pensions as their sole sources of income, were looking for an investment opportunity, a chance to make "a few dollars here and there," when Brian saw some online advertisements for the Royal Stone International Group Corp.
Butler was the alleged investment broker who instructed Brian and Lois to wire $250 US upon initial contact. The money, they were told, would be invested into oil, gas, and coffee. Within a short time, the couple's account had risen to more than $50,000 USD through the investment.
A family member was asked by Lois and Brian, weeks after money transfers began, to print some of the documents and correspondence from the Royal Stone Group. That's when the family member began to feel the whole thing was suspicious, then discovered the scam had escalated to tens of thousands of dollars from a pair of line of credits carried by the couple.
They were also told by Butler that his company wanted them to pay an additional $10,000 or they would not get their investment money. The duo paid the additional funds and had another conversation on the phone with Butler.
"I started to get pushy with him, saying that he said we would be able to withdraw the money, do this, do that, and he kept saying, 'I've got your back,'" said Lois.
"He didn't have our backs. He had our money," said Brian.
The calls from Butler came from a 226 area code, which is southwestern Ontario, and the company website listed its address as downtown Toronto.
When the scamming started in February and March of 2025, Christina Freeland was the federal finance minister. Brian saw a video of Freeland asking Canadians to make an investment into an opportunity.
A National Post story from 2024 determined the four-minute video to be a deepfake, which is synthetic content that has been digitally manipulated and is intended to deceive, according to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.
The video is in the format of a CBC News telecast in one version, and one from CTV news in another. The reporters who introduce the then-finance minister are also deepfakes.
Freeland became minister of transportation in a Mark Carney cabinet shuffle mid-May 2025. Neither of her present and past portfolio assistants have responded to a request for comment from The Morning Star.
The deepfake video appears to have been removed from YouTube.
The National Post quoted a financial advisor as saying the deepfakes are "highly convincing," and used AI to mimic Freeland's voice. The video, said the advisor, appeared legitimate but contained misleading information to defraud individuals."
Lois and Brian have been working with their financial institutions to try and retrieve their money, but have been making very little progress.
"I feel bloody stupid, embarrassed, and have not been sleeping very well," said Lois when asked how she's dealing with being scammed. "It's not good for my other ailments."
Added Brian: "I'd like to ring his (Butler's) neck."
The pair filed a report with Vernon North Okanagan RCMP, and media liaison officer Const. Chris Terleski confirmed the file is being thoroughly investigated.
"It's incredibly unfortunate that it happened," he said.
Police do have tips in terms of this type of fraud:
• Education and awareness are key and the best way to combat this is to stop them before they can start;
• Always be cautious of unsolicited emails or text messages;
• Be wary of offers that promise high returns with little or no risk;
• Never share personal or financial information unless you’re certain of the recipient's identity;
• Do not click links or use phone numbers provided in emails or messages. Research contact information for the companies and contact them directly;
• Never allow unknown or unverified individuals to remotely access your computer;
• Always verify that the person or company is registered to sell or advise about securities or derivatives.
To check registration, visit The Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration Search at www.aretheyregistered.ca.
On March 10, 2025, the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) of Saskatchewan warned investors in that province of the online entity known as Royal Stone Group, a group that claims to offer Saskatchewan residents trading opportunities including cryptocurrencies, precious metals, commodities, and forex (foreign exchange).
The alert applies just to the online entity using the website royal-stonegroup.com, and said the URL has been "manually altered so as not be interactive." Royal Stone Group is NOT registered with the FCAA to trade or sell securities or derivatives in Saskatchewan.
A search on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website shows no record of a Royal Stone Group being registered.
