The Alberta Securities Commission has imposed sanctions totalling $5.6 million on Varun Vinny Aurora, David Humeniuk, David Jones and Vincenzo De Palma for their roles in illegally distributing securities of the Concrete Equities group.

An ASC panel also sanctioned Aurora, Humeniuk and Jones for making misleading and untrue statements in offering documents.

The real-estate-based investments sold by Concrete Equities included eight limited partnerships associated with income-producing buildings in Calgary. In all, some $110 million was raised from these sales.

The ASC panel found multiple deficiencies in the offering memoranda used for sales of six of the eight LPs.

Jones was the president and (later) CEO of Concrete Equities; Aurora its vice-president and (later) chief operating officer; Humeniuk its general manager and (later) senior vice-president and secretary; and De Palma its vice-president of sales and business development and (later) executive vice-president.

In its decision dated January 9, the ASC panel ordered that Humeniuk pay an administrative penalty of $3.3 million and $22,000 towards the costs of the investigation and hearing. In addition, Humeniuk is permanently barred from trading in or purchasing securities, from using exemptions under Alberta securities laws, and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer.

The ASC panel ordered the Jones pay an administrative penalty of $1.2 million and $22,000 in costs, and permanently barred him from trading in or purchasing securities, from using exemptions, and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer.

The panel ordered that De Palma pay an administrative penalty of $600,000 and $11,000 in costs, and barred him from trading in or purchasing securities and using exemptions for nine years, and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer for five years.

The panel ordered that Aurora pay an administrative penalty of $500,000 and $11,000 in costs. In addition, Aurora is barred from trading in or purchasing securities and from using exemptions for five years, and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer for nine years.

The panel found that: “Much harm resulted from all of this misconduct … We repeatedly heard — and we believed — testimony of individual investors distraught and traumatized by what they have endured as a result of their involvement with the Concrete Group.”