Members of the Ontario Provincial Police, with the assistance of the Bracebridge Crime Unit, Central Region Crime, and the Central Region Forensic Identification Services Unit are continuing their investigation into found human remains in Bracebridge. The body has been identified as 55 year old Paul Maasland of Toronto. Mr. Maasland had been reported as a missing person to the Toronto Police Service on Monday, August 30, 2010.
He was reported missing in Toronto, his car was found in Mississauga and his body was discovered kilometres away in the Muskoka region.
Police are now grappling with the mysterious death of 55-year-old Paul Maasland, a Toronto venture capitalist whose body was found on a public boat launch in Bracebridge, Ont. on Monday.
What is certain is that Mr. Maasland was victim of a homicide, police say. But the Ontario Provincial Police are tight-lipped on details surrounding how he was killed or if his body was moved there.
He was reported missing to Toronto police on Monday, the same day a man about to head out fishing discovered the body on Morrow Road in the town of Bracebridge, located north of the city in cottage country. Following a post-mortem examination, the body was identified as that of Mr. Maasland.
Meanwhile, police in Mississauga found Mr. Maasland's 2009 Subaru Forester on Tuesday.
"There's still a lot of questions to answer. Rest assured, we're working feverishly to answer those questions," Constable Jim Reading, spokesman of the Bracebridge OPP, said Friday.
"We are deeply distressed, and saddened by his unexpected death," said his sister, Lisa Maasland. "He was a wonderful, generous person."
The death also came as a surprise to partners in Mr. Maasland's most recent business venture, Verdant Financial Partners I Inc., a capital pool company he founded and ran as president and chief executive officer.
"It's a pretty shocking situation," said Verdant vice-president Pierre Vella-Zarb, who works part-time with the company.
"It's a big surprise because Paul's always a smiley happy person."
Mr. Vella-Zarb said there were no recent issues with Verdant and he was unaware of any hiccups in Mr. Maasland's other business dealings or in his personal life. He said Mr. Maasland's family had a cottage in the Muskoka region but didn't know whether he had been planning to go there before his disappearance. He said he hadn't spoken to his business partner in a few months and that they kept talk strictly to business when they met occasionally for coffee.
Mr. Vella-Zarb said Mr. Maasland, whom he'd met 15 years ago, lived on St. Clair near Yonge Street and that he had an office in the same area where he worked on Verdant business matters. He was also an angel investor and a member of a number of groups that helped small businesses get off the ground.
"He was always interested in start-up situations," Mr. Vella-Zarb said. "He loved the entrepreneurial spirit."
Verdant was just gearing up for its first annual meeting in the weeks before Mr. Maasland's death, said Sybil Adams, who looks after annual meetings and quarterly statement mailings for the company.
She got a call about his death from Tom Wallace, Verdant's chief financial officer, on Thursday. He was light on the details.
She thought Mr. Maasland might have died of natural causes since he had a heart condition.
"Why would anybody kill this mild-mannered man?" she asked, adding that he's very well known on Bay Street.
According to documents, Deloitte "resigned" as Verdant's auditors in late June but didn't explain its reasons in print.
Before Verdant, Mr. Maasland was director and CEO of Daedalian eSolutions Inc., a company he ran since 1981. In 2001, Daedalian was acquired by TELUS corporation, and Mr. Maasland joined TELUS as general manager of the e.Commerce division for TELUS Enterprise Solutions from April 2004 to December 2005.
A January article about Verdant in Stockwatch, a news source for traders, marked the company's entry on the market with its $386,900 initial public offering, which sold 1.2 million shares at 20 cents.
"This is Mr. Maasland's first shell [a company or corporation with few or no assets that's acquired by another company so they can operate legally]but he already anticipates listing more in the future," the Jan. 20 news story reads. "He even founded a private investment company, Verdant Financial Partners Corp., to serve as a kennel keeper of his little dogs."
With a report from Rick Cash
Caroline Alphonso