TORONTO - A Toronto pastor swindled parishioners and colleagues of more than $8 million in an investment scam whose victims included a stay-at-home mother with two blind children, the Ontario Securities Commission has found.

The commission found Marlon Hibbert, the founder of Dominion World Outreach Ministries, lied about using the investments to trade foreign exchange currencies.

"By virtue of Hibbert's deceptions and untruths, many investors lost their entire investment," Commissioner James Carnwath said in his ruling.

"To date, they are owed more than $8.2 million in principal, to say nothing of the promised returns of more than $13 million."

According to the ruling, one victim was a stay-at-home mother with two sons, one of whom was blind and the other blind and autistic.

She invested $60,000 with Hibbert, taken from her mother-in-law's estate, in a bid to establish security for her oldest son, who she said would probably never be able to work.

The unnamed witness understood that her investment would be used to trade foreign exchange currencies, the ruling said, and was never told that part of the money would be used to pay other investors, used for office expenses or used to compensate Hibbert and his family.

She received a series of letters providing excuses for delays in the payments she was owed, as well as misleading account statements.

Asked during the hearing what effect investing with Hibbert had on her and her family, she replied: "This is where I cry."

"She described the strain of knowing that Hibbert was a pastor, and that he had done this, not just to her and her family, but to hundreds of other people," said the ruling.

She also said she "wanted to put an end to Hibbert living off other people's money."

Another witness was a part-time teacher who ended up having to sell her home and live in a rental property with her husband and three children after losing her investment.

She testified she invested $60,000 with Hibbert after hearing about the investments through close friends and being told the rate of return would be good, with no risk.

She was also persuaded that the investment was a good idea, the ruling said, "because Hibbert was a pastor."

Hibbert is also a founding member of Fight For Justice, an organization devoted to bettering the lives of members of the African-Canadian community.

The lost of the investment, she testified, was "pretty devastating."

In his ruling, Carnwath also pointed to testimony from Paul De Souza, a senior forensic accountant with the OSC, who found investors put about $8.4 million into Hibbert's business, $458,484 of which was set aside for his personal use.

He also spent some of the money on personal charities and payments for leased vehicles, as well as on school fees, hotels and gym memberships.

A hearing has yet to be set for the commission to impose penalties.