The Ontario Securities Commission said yesterday it has frozen the accounts of John Fraleigh as part of an investigation into trading of Placer Dome Inc. securities.

In a release, the provincial regulator said that on Nov. 2, it “issued a direction pursuant to section 126 of the Securities Act freezing accounts held at BMO Investorline in the name of John Cameron Fraleigh.”

The OSC said it must appear before the Ontario Courts before Nov. 14 to continue to freeze, which was obtained “in relation to an OSC investigation into trading in securities” of Placer Dome.

Last week, courts granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a court order freezing assets of certain ‘unknown purchasers’ of call options for the common stock of Placer Dome. The SEC’s complaint alleges that these unknown purchasers engaged in illegal insider trading.

U.S. regulators are investigating “trades in call options in advance of Barrick Gold Corp.’s unsolicited US$9.2 billion takeover bid for Placer.

In addition to freezing approximately US$3 million in assets, the court’s order requires that the unknown purchasers identify themselves, provides for expedited discovery, and prohibits the defendants from destroying evidence.