A Quebec Court judge convicted two men for illegal distributions in connection with the PlexCoin crypto investment scheme.
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that the creator of the PlexCoin cryptoasset, Dominic Lacroix, and the project’s technology head, Yan Ouellet, have been found guilty of making illegal distributions. Lacroix’s spouse, Sabrina Paradis-Royer, who was also charged in the case, was found not guilty of the allegations against her.
Following an investigation launched in 2017, the AMF obtained asset freeze orders and moved to shut down the scheme. In 2020, it brought proceedings against Lacroix, Paradis-Royer and Ouellet.
The AMF also worked with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed charges of its own against Lacroix, his company PlexCorps, and Paradis-Royer to halt the initial coin offering that, it said, raised up to US$15 million from investors.
In 2019, they settled the SEC’s case against them without admitting or denying the allegations. They agreed to US$1 million in penalties and to almost US$5 million in disgorgement and interest to resolve that case.
In 2020, all three were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering by a federal grand jury in Cleveland. Those allegations have not been proven.
Submissions on sentencing for Lacroix and Ouellet in Quebec will take place in 2024, the AMF said.