Body of Bay Street financier recovered from lake

Update: The West Parry Sound Ontario Provincial Police sent out a release on Saturday saying the body of Bradley Griffiths was recovered from Lake Joseph. From the release:

On the morning of Saturday July 23, 2011 the deep dive company and the West Parry Sound OPP Marine Unit resumed the search and at 6:23 pm the body of an adult male was located at the scene at a depth of 295 feet. An underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) had been utilized in the search due to the extreme depths of the water.

Arrangements were made for the body to be transported to the West Parry Sound Health Centre where the family later met OPP and the victim was positively identified to be Bradley Wholesale Carolina Panthers Jerseys David GRIFFITHS, 55 years of Toronto.

A post mortem will be performed to determine the cause of death.

By Theresa Tedesco and Christine Dobby

Brad Griffiths, one of Bay Street's most colourful and successful corporate financiers, is feared drowned after he was seen falling out of his boat and struggling in the deep waters of Lake Joseph. Monday. An extensive search by the Ontario Provincial Police during the past two days, aided by the local fire department and a private diving company, has failed to recover or locate Mr. Griffiths from the depths of the deepest area of the 91 metre lake.

"We know he's missing," said a close fake oakley sunglasses associate of Mr. Griffiths who asked not to be named. "We're very concerned."

Mr. Griffiths, who co founded independent securities firm Griffiths, McBurney Partners (GMP) in 1995, owned a cottage he had rebuilt with an adjoining boathouse about six years ago. He would spend most summers there with his family.

A colleague at Griffiths Energy International Inc., where Mr. Griffiths was chairman of the board, said the businessman worked long hours and had taken time off at his cottage.

"It's a definite shock," Fred Zaziski, president of the privately held Canadian company that is pursuing oil concessions in Africa, told the National Post. "He works 18 hours a day, and he was going to spend a couple days up there to recharge. I know he liked fishing, so I suspect he Wholesale Atlanta Falcons Jerseys was out to go fishing."

Mr. Griffiths' dramatic career took off after he helped establish GMP. Amid the large, bank owned brokerage firms, GMP rose to the top ranks on Bay Street as an independent firm. At the same time, his reputation as a potent deal maker began to solidify. A chartered accountant by training, he left the company in 2000, although it still bears his name.

During his 30 years in the investment business, Mr. Griffiths also worked as head of mergers and acquisitions at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a director and vice Wholesale Baltimore Ravens Jerseys president at Gordon Capital Corp., co chairman and head of capital markets at Canaccord Capital and managing director of capital markets at institutional brokerage house McFarlane Gordon.

He was among the group at Canaccord that purchased a major interest in Standard Securities.

Most recently, Mr. Griffiths was chief financial officer and chairman at United Hunter Oil. on Monday after Mr. Griffiths' boat was found with no operator aboard. A glove and shoes belonging to Mr. Griffiths were found, although police do not believe he was wearing a flotation device.

Terry Johnson, owner of the Hamer Bay Marine, where Mr. Griffiths held an account, said one of his workboats was dispatched to the scene with fire department personnel to help with the initial search.

"He had an account with us and he used to come in for gas here," Mr. Johnson said in an interview.

"The problem in this case is it's in 300 feet of water it's the deepest part in the Muskoka lakes."

Lake Joseph is one of the three large lakes in the Muskoka Lakes the others are Lake Muskoka and Rosseau and is the summer louboutin Shoes Outlet playground for many of Canada's well heeled businessmen, politicians and celebrities. Hamer Sons, who is a fourth generation resident in the area, said "it's a shock to everybody," in the cottage community. "These things happen I guess, but it's hard to say what exactly happened."