First, I want to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates for inviting me today to answer questions with respect to the renewable energy projects funding by the government.
I'm here to answer questions pertaining to what this committee has been established to investigate. However, as the committee may be aware, and as has been reported in the media, elements auxiliary and unrelated to the mandate of this committee are also being investigated. I hope I'm not put in a position to answer questions that could potentially compromise an ongoing investigation.
The following information is what I was party to with respect to the mandate of the committee. For reference, in February of 2009 my company, HD Retail Solutions, had begun discussions to engage Nazim Gillani and his company, International Strategic Investments, to raise capital in order for our company to execute its business plan. Formal agreements were drafted in March 2009 to this effect.
On August 25, 2009, I was invited to attend an afternoon meeting by Nazim Gillani at La Castile restaurant in Mississauga. I was introduced to Rahim Jaffer, and he provided me with his business card, a copy of which I'm going to submit to the committee as exhibit 1. He described his experience in and knowledge of government and a $100 million green fund he was somehow involved with. We presented our business plan, and he did not commit to funding or setting us up with funding at that time. The following day, August 26, 2009, I was surprised to receive a message from Mr. Gillani stating that he expected to receive a term sheet the following week from Mr. Jaffer for our company in the amount of $5 million at 2.4% interest and repayable out of net profits. This would have entirely fulfilled our capital requirement and allowed us to execute our business plan. This is submitted to the committee as exhibit 2.
We were thrilled at the prospect and awaited the term sheet. No such term sheet was forthcoming in the following weeks. I inquired of Mr. Gillani as to the status of this funding opportunity from time to time but never received a definitive response. On September 11, 2009, I received an e-mail from Mr. Gillani stating that “Mr. Jaffer has opened up the Prime Minister's office to us and as a result of that dinner--he today advised me that he is just as excited as we are and joining our team seems to be the next logical step.” This has already been submitted to the committee, I believe, but I also submit it as exhibit 3.
I'm not sure exactly why he sent me that message. I assumed it was to illustrate that he and Mr. Jaffer were increasing their engagement and perhaps to infuse some new hope that government funding was forthcoming for our business. I found out in the coming days, in the media, that Mr. Jaffer had been arrested for speeding, impaired driving, and cocaine possession in the early morning hours of September 11, 2009. After this news was reported, I wasn't hopeful of any government funding being made available for our business.
On October 16, 2009, I had inquired as to the status of our funding situation by e-mail to Mr. Gillani, and he replied that he was “just wrapping up with the funders and Rahim and Patrick”. This is submitted to the committee as exhibit 4. I assume those named individuals to be Rahim Jaffer and Patrick Glémaud. If true, this would indicate that ISI and GPG were still engaged at the time.
I did come forward in the media, subsequent to April 28, 2009, in response to some false statements made by Mr. Gillani to this committee. I can only speculate as to why Mr. Gillani made those statements. I do not feel it is pertinent to the matter in front of this committee or constructive to any of the affected individuals to elaborate on those speculations. Further, it may not be helpful to the ongoing investigations to delve further into what information may have been shared or inquired about on this matter. The deceptive conduct of certain individuals in businesses, some associated with and some not associated with this matter, has cost us our business and caused irreparable damage to our former company, HD Retail Solutions, which is now bankrupt as a result, and caused undue financial and other personal distress to the company's employees, investors, suppliers, and stakeholders in general. We accepted the information we received from those we were in business with as truthful and conducted our business on that basis. Our collective victimization as a result of that information and other actions is now being dealt with by the appropriate authorities. We continue to seek advice to determine whether any further course of action on our part is sensible.
From my perspective, our brief encounter with Mr. Jaffer and subsequent communications pertaining to the result of that meeting from Mr. Gillani were just a few of many elements in the rollercoaster ride of raised and dashed expectations that our company's employees, investors, suppliers, and stakeholders endured, as Mr. Donovan accurately mentioned in his article of April 30.
If the trust of the citizens of Canada has been somehow violated, as determined by this committee, I hope that justice is served. I'm here to assist in any fashion this committee deems appropriate. I invite the committee to ask any questions it may have of me with respect to the matter at hand.