Former Toronto tech CEO David Kalman accused of not paying employees and forging cheques

Lors Kushtov worked for a Toronto tech company for three months and all he has to show for it is a fake cheque and experience he can't put on his resume.

The University of Toronto student says he was never paid a dime for his work building websites for dHack and its CEO David Kalman, who was accused of taking advantage of young people in the tech community as previously reported by CBC Toronto.

• Toronto tech CEO is accused of 'taking advantage of high school kids,' owes them $16K

Kushtov signed a contract that promised him $55,000 a year, paidbi-weekly. The 20-year-old says dHack owes him roughly $12,000 in wages money he was counting on to pay his tuition in January.

"I'm a very independent person. I don't want to rely on my parents," said Kushtov. "Stuff like OSAP doesn't cover all of it, so I was relying on my job."

And he's not the only one waiting for payment, according to several people CBC Toronto spoke with.

Two months ago, members of the city's tech community told CBCTorontothey believedKalmanwastaking advantage of young peopleby not fulfilling sponsorship contracts for more than $20,000 and failing to deliver prizes tied to youth events.

Since then,CBC Toronto has heard from severalpeople with concerns about Kalman, includingallegations of unpaid contracts and wages and attempts by Kalman to cash stolen and forged cheques.

In an email to CBC Toronto,Kalman denied all of the allegations and said the previous story "caused irreparable harm" to his business and personal reputation.

Last month,Kalman shut down dHack and shuttered all of its social media.Themovecame after Kushtovand other dHack employees he knowsquit in late January because he says they'd never been paid.

He said, 'Slide it into the bank machine. Don't give it to the teller.' That was kind of fishy.- LorsKushtov, former dHack employee

That was the same day Kushtov says Kalman gave him a fake cheque for nearly $10,000.

"He said, 'Slide it into the bank machine. Don't give it to the teller.' That was kind of fishy," Kushtov told CBC Toronto. "I took it out of the envelope and I saw basically a piece of paper anyone could have printed."

After a teller confirmed the cheque wasn't real and couldn't be cashed, Kushtov says he went back to the office and handed his resignation to Kalman.

"At that point, I knew he's just messing with us.He just thinks we're kids and we don't know how this works," said Kushtov. "He doesn't say outright, 'I'm not going to pay you,' but then he just doesn't."

When askedto respond to the allegation that he gave an employee a fake cheque,KalmantoldCBCToronto "that's not true."

Kushtov and two other dHack employees have since filed claims with the province for unpaid wages. The Ministry of Labour says the three claims against dHack are in the initial processing stage.

Kalman told CBC Toronto in an email that after he resigned, "the settling of final business matters has been in the hands of the lawyer handling the corporate dissolution. He has been consistently in contact with all former dHack employees regarding payroll."

Kushtov says no one has contacted him on behalf of dHack.

Photographer says Kalmanforged cheques

CBC Toronto has learned the cheque-related allegations against Kalman don't end with the fake one Kushtov received.

Toronto photographer Ben Katan says Kalman got a hold of his real chequebooks and tried to cash cheques.

He first met Kalman last summer through a mutual friend. He says the two of them were planning to do some video production work together, but at the time Katan was too busy with his photography business to get started.

In the meantime, Katan says Kalman offered to help him out with some IT stuff in his studio office. Katan accepted the help and Kalman started spending time there.

David was planning to pay him back with my business.- Ben Katan, Toronto photographer

But after a dispute with Kalman over some Amazon purchases that never arrived and other unexpected charges on Katan's company credit card, Katan says he told Kalman he was no longer welcome.

After that, someone tried to cash a cheque for $16,500 from his photography studio's bank account,KatantoldCBCToronto.

The cheque bounced, but Katan was still concerned and tracked down the man who tried to cash it.

The man told Katanthat Kalman gave him the cheque to pay back a debt.CBCToronto confirmed that account with the man.

"It was a stressful time," said Katan. "David was planning to pay him back with my business."

Katan reported the forged cheque to Toronto police after he discovered it in July 2017. Police say the case was recently closed because the complainant no longer wanted to pursue it.

Katan says he gave police the information he had but was too busy to be actively involved in the investigation.

That wasn't the last forged cheque the photographer would have to deal with.

Bank blocks more cheques made out to Kalman

In early February, Katan's bank contacted him about two suspicious cheques it stopped from cashing and more would follow.

Katan provided CBC Toronto copies of five cheques the photographer says he never wrote, but someone tried to cash from his personal bank account last month.

All but one were made out to Kalman. The latest cheque was made out to a woman with the same name as Kalman's fiance.

Together the five cheques amount to just over $70,000 that Katan alleges Kalman tried and failed to cash in from his personal account.

In an email, Kalman told CBC Toronto, "I categorically deny ever using anyone's chequebook without permission, and frankly, this is a libellous statement."

Still no prizes, otherswaiting for payment

When CBC Toronto reached out to Kalman for the initial story in January, he said some of the missing prizes students were waiting on would be available for pick up at the dHack office the following week.

But the missing prizes never showed.

In late January,Kalman issued a news release saying that he'd been the "target of multiple death threats in the wake of unsubstantiated allegations" and "as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, the RCMP has seized the unclaimed prizes."

While CBC Toronto has confirmed Kalman reported death threats from teenagers to Toronto police, the RCMP says it "does not have any information in regards to David Kalman."

As CBC Toronto previously reported, two organizations were also waiting on $16,000 and $7,000 respectively from Kalman in sponsorship for youth events.

Both the Toronto Hacker Club and Knowledge Society of Toronto confirm they've yet to see a penny. The latter has taken Kalman to small claims court.

And acommunications agency is following suit.

In a statement to CBC Toronto, Eighty-Eight agency managing director Erin Bury says Kalman hired the company to provide "various design and PR services for dHack."

"Despite repeated promises that payment was on its way, it's now months later and we've yet to see a dime," said Bury.

"We are currently pursuing legal action against Mr. Kalman and advise other startup founders to stay away from him and his company, as we're sure we're not the first company he's defraudednor will we be the last."

Nicole Brockbank can be reached at 416-205-6911or at nicole.brockbank@cbc.ca