A Montreal lawyer has filed two lawsuits against on behalf of clients who believe they were swindled out of their savings in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Lawyer Jacob Rothman is seeking $350, 000 on behalf of two people believed to be victims of the possible financial fraud.

Rothman's clients invested with a Bahamas-based company called Progressive Management Ltd.

One investor said he entrusted the company with about $80,000 and was promised returns as high as 16 per cent. He was issued a certificate that looked just like a certificate a bank or other financial institution might offer, according to Rothman.

In late 2005, the rate of return started to dwindle. In 2006, the investor was sent a letter saying the company would stop sending the interest payments for two years as it restructured.

In 2008, when no money was forthcoming, the man started making calls and was unable to reach anyone at PML.

"It's an out and out fraud," said Rothman. "It's a Ponzi scheme in the sense that the defendant company did not conduct any business. It had no tangible assets. It had no staff it didn't do anything. It just issued certificates and had a virtual existence rather than physical existence."

One of the financial advisors named in the suit is Lance Townend of Baie D'Urfe.

He declined to comment on the allegations.

"I know that your job is to try top get me to talk about this but I have nothing to say at this time," Lance Townend told CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie in a telephone interview.

AMF criticized

Quebec's securities regulator, the Authorite des Marches Financiers, would not comment on the case.

Rothman criticized the AMF, saying it is not doing its job.

"When there is an appearance of fraud, you communicate with them -- everyone's in a meeting," Rothman said. "Ninety per cent of the time you're speaking to voice mail. Your messages are never returned."

In the case of Earl Jones, the self-styled investment advisor who is awaiting trial on allegations that he bilked clients out of approximately $50 million, the AMF said it had little jurisdiction because Jones was not a registered advisor.

The two financial advisors named in Rothman's lawsuit are registered with the AMF.