Derek Prue, the leader of the disastrous GMHL West is a professional. He is a professional at fleecing people of their money, and he has been doing is for decades.
The trail of lies, ruined lives, bankruptcies and failed ventures spans decades and across Canada and the United States. No stone is left unturned when it comes to Derek Prue’s search for unsuspecting people and communities. Now, its time for the truth to come out.
The first I remember hearing of Derek Prue was when he tried screwing Ron White out of tens of thousands of dollars in the WSHL. Like his role in the GMHL West, Prue was heading up expansion efforts for the WSHL in Canada.
But someone told me that Prue has been around a lot longer than I had known. He only resurfaced after a disastrous experience in the old Central Hockey League in Texas. As the Managing Member of the Border City Bandits, and part owner of the club with his then father-in-law, Prue learned how not to operate a team while getting all you can out of the team before it was bankrupt and forced into tax closure.
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TEXARKANA PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY, L.L.C. :: Texas (US) :: OpenCorporates
Border City Bandits • Fun While It Lasted
So you see, Mr. Prue started out with a bang in the CHL. After a series of other bad business deals in Canada and a bankruptcy in 2008, Prue was learning fast. What he learned though, is not useful in any positive business venture and more closely resembles a pattern of business activity of the local sociopath business club.
The level of deception used by Prue in the furtherance of his financial desires is really quite remarkable. From setting up wives and children as front people for his companies, to outright scamming of investors in multiple schemes. Prue is a seasoned professional, a smooth talker and master manipulator who preys on people’s beliefs and emotions to gain their trust and then line his pockets.
When Prue pops up on the hockey scene around 2018 working with Ron White in the WSHL I asked Ron who he was, and was told he was a smart hockey guy who was going to invest and help build the WSHL in Canada. Having known Ron for many years, I could not question his judgement of placing trust in Mr. Prue.
But there was always a question lingering in the background because no one just pops up in this business in that position without having some real money or background in hockey. It wouldn’t take long before Ron and everyone else figured out who Derek Prue really is.
When Prue learned all he could, and figured out his path to steal business from Ron White, he struck. He then moved multiple WPHA franchises to his control and started the GMHL West. The Western Provinces Hockey Association was part of the WSHL, during the pandemic Prue managed to make a deal with the GMHL and join while controlling the western Provinces of Canada.
With Prue running the show in Western Canada, reports of unpaid bills were coming out within the first two months. Reports of players not receiving refunds were coming out within the first month. Reports of sponsors not getting paid, or not getting the agreed advertising were nearly immediate.
Unpaid bus company bills, unpaid billets, unpaid suppliers, unpaid ice bills and nearly every other financial problem you can imagine plagued Mr. Prue and everything he touched.
Nothing has changed for Mr. Prue except the victims he takes advantage of.
TJHN is in possession of documents and proofs that would lead any rational thinking human being to think that Mr. Prue operates outside the bounds of the law.
Since the inception of the GMHL West, Prue has been operating the league under a company that his son legally owns because Prue is still apparently in bankruptcy proceedings and cannot have those assets become part of the court record or they would become part of the bankruptcy. A common practice, that is not legal when it is designed to deceive the court or hide assets from creditors.
But this is only the beginning. Prue, when selling franchises, takes lump payments to support his lavish lifestyle. Uses other people to pay bills, and other people to hide cash. A lifestyle of questionable choices when it concerns a pattern of using women for money.
Last season Mr. Prue had one of his former wives running one of the GMHL west teams while his now former girlfriend was financing others.
Emails from suppliers, season ticket holders, billets, bus companies, city officials, team employee’s, and people formerly involved with Prue all ask the same question. Where is the money? The money received from players and tribal leaders to cover “tuition” seems to vanish while the bills go unpaid.
This is Derek Prue. In every city a trail of debt and deceit. Stay tuned for more as Mr. Prue now controls nearly all of the GMHL West. Part II on Tuesday.
