The Crown is searching for a seven-year jail time period for an Alberta man who used bogus connections within the hockey world to orchestrate a sequence of fraudulent sports activities funding schemes that price his victims greater than $1.7 million.

Nickolas Ellis is awaiting sentencing after being discovered responsible in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench on eight counts of fraud over $5,000, three counts of trafficking in cast paperwork and three counts of id fraud.

Ellis, 52, engineered a sequence of elaborate frauds, typically utilizing his purported connections to present and retired NHL gamers, together with the late New York Islanders nice Mike Bossy.

His crimes, which befell between February 2016 and March 2019, concerned eight victims.

Ellis defrauded mates, co-workers and neighbours, utilizing pretend emails, fabricated conferences and cast paperwork to lend legitimacy to his tasks.

He was discovered responsible in January. As of Wednesday he had paid no restitution.

‘Pure greed’ 

In court docket on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Thomas O’Leary stated Ellis ought to be totally disadvantaged of the “ill-gotten gains” of his crimes.

“His actions can be described as predatory,” O’Leary stated. “In terms of the seriousness of the offences, it’s very high.”

Justice John Henderson, who described Ellis’s crimes as a “home of playing cards,” is expected to hand down a sentence in June.

O’Leary said the crimes were calculated and motivated by “pure greed.”

Ellis used the proceeds of his frauds to fund a lavish lifestyle — extensive travel, luxury vehicles and high-priced collectibles, the prosecutor said.

“He lived very comfortably, and did so off the backs of his victims.” 

The Crown is seeking a “fines in lieu of forfeiture” order, used in cases when property or money obtained through a fraud can’t be found or recovered. If a fraudster doesn’t pay back that amount, the court can impose a fine that reflects the amount fraudulently obtained.

Such orders come with a threat of jail time. If imposed, Ellis could be incarcerated if a future court determines he has refused to pay within the sanctioned timeline, without reasonable excuse.

The Crown is also seeking a 15-year ancillary trust prohibition order. It would prohibit Ellis from having authority over finances, property or investments when seeking future employment or volunteer work.

The Crown further asks that $21,000 seized from Ellis by Edmonton police be surrendered for redistribution among the victims.

The proposed sentence is harsh but necessary, O’Leary said. 

Ellis was an experienced businessman who understood the severity of his crimes but continued to take money from his victims “as a result of he might,” he said. 

“Ellis rigorously chosen his victims, these closest to him.”

Ellis, wearing a checked shirt, black down vest and blue jeans for his court appearance Wednesday, stared straight ahead while victim impact statements were read — two from men who once considered him a friend.

The men wrote that the frauds have left them struggling with their mental and physical health.  Both wrote that they remain haunted by his betrayal, their finances gutted and plans for retirement shattered.

The largest of Ellis’s schemes was called the Dynasty Project — a group he claimed was made up of himself and current or former NHL players.

The pitch involved the supposed development of a sports app for NHL fans. Investors were promised millions or billions of dollars in returns on the closing of the sale to Microsoft.

Ellis used correspondence with fictional lawyers — and emails from a fake account in Bossy’s name — to add legitimacy to the scheme.

‘The Gretzky Project’

The second-largest scheme, known as the Reebok Jersey program, promised to take advantage of the NHL’s switch from Reebok to Adidas jerseys in 2017.

Ellis told investors that, thanks to his connections in the NHL, he had an opportunity to purchase more than 1,000 jerseys that could be repackaged and sold for profit.

In another scheme, known as The Gretzky Project, Ellis claimed to have a distribution deal with sports memorabilia company Upper Deck for limited-issue Wayne Gretzky merchandise.

Ellis took “very restricted duty for his actions” when he was interviewed for a pre-sentence report, the report says.

He felt like his victims “nonetheless have every little thing” while he had “nothing,” he told his interviewer.

“He described himself because the ‘center man’ when discussing the offence, and claimed he ‘felt like a pawn,'” the report says.

According to the report, Ellis is $300,000 in debt and has no assets. He said he currently earns about $1,500 a month in cash for acquisition work.

“The topic suggested restitution could be ‘a tricky tablet to swallow’ however could be prepared to conform,” the pre-sentence report says.

The defence will make submissions for sentencing later this month.