Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), one of the thirteen Canadian provincial regulators, has announced that Ontario-based Michelle Dunk has been charged with alleged breaches of the Securities Act following an investigation by its Joint Serious Offences Team.
Dunk was charged with trading without registration, trading in securities without a prospectus and trading in securities during a time when she was prohibited from doing so by the Commission. The OSC has also charged Dunk with fraud. She continues to be subject to a cease trade order prohibiting her from trading in securities.
Violations
The OSC alleges that between September 2012 and May 2016, Dunk was involved in the sale and distribution of Rocky Point Energy securities to Ontario investors.
It is also alleged that Dunk has never been registered with the Commission under the Securities Act, and no prospectuses qualifying any Rocky Point Energy-related securities have ever been filed with the Commission.
Dunk is scheduled to appear in court on this matter in July and the OSC has encouraged victims to come forward.
Finance Magnates has reported on charges made by the OSC against those involved in unlawful financial services activities on numerous occasions, frequently adding unregistered entities to its warning list, as it did in March this year when binary options broker CherryTrade was flagged.
Background
JSOT was established by the OSC as an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Financial Crime Program and the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Branch. Its objective is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement and investigations of serious violations of the law.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets.