The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has found that Calgary resident Robert Bartel engaged in illegal trades and distributions of securities of McKinley North Ventures Inc., NOF Electrical Generation Inc., Mountain Star Capital Corp., and Resolute Financial Corp. to investors in Alberta.

In its decision, an ASC panel determined that Bartel “exhibited a serious disregard for Alberta securities laws” when he “engaged in conduct that denied investors the fundamental protections afforded by the registration and prospectus requirements of the Act.”

The panel found that between 2002 and 2005 Bartel illegally raised over $350,000 from approximately 13 investors through his sales of NOF and McKinley securities. The panel also found that, as director and guiding mind of Mountain Star and Resolute, Bartel was responsible for the illegal trades of those securities, raising over $480,000 from approximately 55 investors. During this time period, Bartel was not registered under the Securities Act to trade in securities.

According to the panel’s decision, the money invested in the four companies through Bartel’s selling efforts appears to have been, for the most part, lost.

The ASC panel will now determine what sanction orders, if any, ought to be made against Bartel in the public interest.