An Unsafe Harbour: Perceptions of White-Collar Crimes and their Affect on the Portus Scandal Outcomes

• In Event: White-Collar Crime at 75: Industries and Case Studies II

Abstract

The word “portus” is derived from the Latin words “portus tutus” meaning “safe harbour.” Established by Boaz Manor and Michael Mendelson in 2003, Portus Alternative Asset Management used to be one of the largest hedge fund companies in Canada. Their aggressive marketing strategy, and the general popularity of hedge funds at the time, created a flourishing business with a large number of investors. Portus also set up an elaborate Ponzi scheme that ended up costing Canadian investors approximately $110 million in misappropriated funds, $17.6 million of which has never been recovered. This paper uses Portus Alternative Asset Management as a case study to examine societal perceptions towards white-collar crimes. Through the collection and review of online newspaper articles from the start of the Portus scandal in 2005 to its conclusion in 2012, this paper demonstrates that dominant societal perceptions of white-collar crimes as being less serious than other more conventional crimes (e.g. robbery) or as not being crimes at all, has contributed, in part, to leniency in how these individuals are treated within the Canadian criminal justice system.

Author

• Ilona Andersen, University of Guelph