Former NHLer Jason Garrison in court over multi-million dollar lawsuit

Jason Garrison, probably best known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks, has launched a lawsuit against his former financial advisors, alleging he lost millions due to unsuitable investments and bad advice. In a statement of claim filed last month, Garrison claims he hired Richard Jones from RJ Financial Group, a Vancouver-based insurance and wealth management firm, to manage his money after signing a contract with the Canucks worth $28 million over four years back in 2013.

In the lawsuit, Garrison alleges Jones sold him several large insurance policies and contracts, including three life insurance policies worth over $10 million each. The notice of civil claim maintains Jones told Garrison his recommendations would result in almost $44 million in capital after 10 years. Instead, according to the lawsuit, Jones over sold investments, and Garrison lost a lot of money. Furthermore, it says Jones and his company did not warn Garrison about the risks associated with the investments, did not create a financial plan for Garrison, and did not properly identify what kind of insurance he needed.

Jones is also accused in the lawsuit of completing forms using copies of Garrison's signature without his permission and recommending investments that were in a conflict of interest.

Jones was contacted by the CBC for comment and he claimed to be shocked by the lawsuit. In an email to the CBC, he stated “I took my relationship as an advisor to Jason very seriously. And his plans have performed very well over these past [eight] years or so. There were very specific and valuable reasons for Jason [to] have investments in these particular insurance products."

Garrison was traded to Tampa Bay after he was two years into the four-year contract. He grossly underperformed for the money he was making. After three seasons in Tampa Bay, he was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft of 2017. He would only play eight games for the Knights before being sent to the minors where he played out the remainder of his contract. He managed to get a one-year deal with Edmonton for the 2018-19 season following a professional tryout at training camp. However, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in December of 2018. The Blackhawks sent him to their AHL affiliate, but Garrison refused to report and his contract was terminated. He now plays with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League.