The executive director of the British Columbia Securities Commission has issued a notice of hearing alleging that an Israeli citizen currently residing in Vancouver breached securities laws by illegally distributing securities on a website, and by making false statements while promoting a purported investment on Craigslist.
The notice alleges that Daveed Zarr (a.k.a. Asi Lalky) created a website for Zarr Energy Corporation that offered to sell shares in the company, despite the fact that Zarr is not registered to trade securities and Zarr Energy has never filed a prospectus in B.C.
The notice states that in September 2010, Zarr created a website for Zarr Energy. The website offered 20 million shares in the company at $1.00 per share.
In December 2011, Zarr posted an online classified advertisement promoting the investment in the Financial Services section of Vancouver’s Craigslist website. Zarr stated that investors would earn a 50% annual return if they agreed to open a foreign exchange trading account containing $250,000 and give Zarr trading authority over the account. Zarr failed to mention that there would be risk associated with such a high rate of return.
In response to an email inquiry from a commission investigator posing as an investor, Zarr represented that he was a “professional currency trader” and reiterated that investors would earn a 50% annual return. Both of these statements were false or misleading.
These allegations have not been proven. Counsel for the executive director will apply to set dates for a hearing into the allegations before a panel of commissioners on Tuesday, May 28.