CASH AND BURN

Cash and Burn

How a self-styled venture capitalist sold Hollywood on a made-in-Nova Scotia video game, burned through more than a million dollars in public money, and left a trail of jilted investors in his wake.

Two Waddell Avenue in Dartmouth, NS, was meant to be the epicenter of a local digital revolution. Instead, it became the site of a spectacular corporate collapse.

James Drage, the man behind the operation, managed to convince local authorities and international investors that his studio held the key to the next big thing in gaming. What followed was a complex web of shell companies, promise-heavy pitch decks, and a complete vanishing act of funds exceeding one million dollars.

This investigation traces the movement of those assets, the regulatory failures that allowed the scheme to flourish, and the stories of the employees and contractors who were left holding the bag.