Former financial advisor Paul Yoannou is a “despicable fraudster,” said a hearing panel of the Toronto-based Mutual Fund Dealers’ Association of Canada (MFDA) in its reasons for decision document released on Wednesday.
In April, an MFDA hearing panel permanently banned Yoannou from conducting any securities related business and fined him $6 million for defrauding 18 clients. It is one of the largest fines levied against an approved person in MFDA history. Yoannou was fined an additional $50,000 for failing to cooperate with the investigation.
MFDA fines former advisor $6 million
The hearing panel stated in the reason for decisions document that as an approved person Yoannou was subject to the rules of the MFDA and should have been aware of the regulator’s position on the transaction of business with clients and expectations of cooperation in an investigation. Instead, Yoannou “chose to flout those rules,” said the panel.
Furthermore, the hearing panel reasoned that Yoannou is a “despicable fraudster” who took millions from clients and used his position with Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. as a cover for the fraud.
In February 2013, Yoannou pled guilty to 15 counts of fraud over $5,000 in a criminal court and is currently serving a six-year prison sentence.