 |
Tribunal finds investment club was a fraud that illegally distributed securities
The Canadian Press-
TORONTO - An Ontario tribunal says about 1,700 people who sank a total of $29 million into a purported investment club were victims of a fraud.
The panel announced Friday that the Prosporex Investment Club as well as three men and related companies violated the provincial securities law.
In a decision Thursday, it found they engaged in unregistered trading and distribution of securities the spring of 2007 to December 2008, contrary to the public interest.
Penalties will be determined at a separate hearing at the Ontario Securities Commission. The OSC's ruling can be appealed to Ontario's divisional court.
An OSC investigation found that only $5.3 million of the money collected was returned to investors.
The panel found that the three men at the centre of the operation — Carlton (Carl) Lewis, Mark Scott and Sedwick Hill — had transferred significant sums of money to themselves.
430 page views
|
|
|
|