Scores of people who lost their life savings to convicted fraudster Earl Jones gathered Saturday to discuss their class-action lawsuit against RBC.
The victims, former clients of the investor, lost anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars in the Ponzi scheme that Jones ran for decades.
His own brother Bevan was a victim, who only learned far too late that the 'dividends' he was supposedly earning on his retirement account were taken out of other people's savings.
"I have no use for my brother, I hope he rots in hell," said Bevan Jones.
The group has filed documents with a judge to sue Earl Jones's bank, RBC, for $40 million, saying the bank should have noticed the hundreds of falsified transactions.
In many cases, someone forged signatures on cheques made payable to Earl Jones.
Bruce Emblem, whose mother was a client, says it should have been obvious to bank employees that something was wrong.
"The cheque was signed by someone else with my mother's name on it, three weeks after she was dead," said Emblem.
Kevin Curran, who sits on the Earl Jones Victims Organizing Committee, suggests that if the bank had been more vigilant, the fraud would not have happened.
"These people have been victimized both by Earl Jones, and in our opinion, by the Royal Bank of Canada as well," said Curran.
"We want to see justice done."
RBC has issued a statement saying it is also a victim and was deceived by Jones.
Still, Jones's victims believe they have a solid case. So solid, that lawyers representing the victims won't be paid if they lose.
"What has happened to these victims is a tragedy and we want to see justice done," said Neil Stein, one of the lawyers working on the case.
They are confident that's what will happen.
Later this spring, a judge will decide if the class action lawsuit can go ahead.
Jones is currently serving an 11-year prison term after he was convicted of swindling 158 investors out of $50-million.
