The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has issued permanent market bans against former B.C. resident Ian Gregory Thow and three B.C.-based businesses he owned or controlled.

The reciprocal orders, based on two decisions of the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), permanently prohibit Thow and the three businesses, 657594 B.C. Ltd., A.Y.G. Investments Inc. and M600 Holdings Ltd. from trading in or purchasing securities or relying on exemptions under the Alberta Securities Act.

Thow is also permanently prohibited from acting as a director or officer of any issuer and from being registered in any capacity under Alberta securities laws.

The two BCSC decisions, dated Oct. 27 and Dec. 20, 2007, imposed similar sanctions on Thow and the three businesses listed above. According to the BCSC’s findings, Thow illegally raised approximately $8.7 million from 26 people by encouraging them to invest in various securities that did not in fact exist. Evidence presented to the ASC panel showed that two Alberta residents provided Thow with $1.2 million.

In its decision, the ASC panel noted that even though there was no direct evidence of activity in Alberta by Thow and the businesses listed above, the evidence that ASC staff presented “persuade(s) us that, barring protective and deterrent action in Alberta, other Albertans and the Alberta capital market generally could be at risk from further misconduct by the Respondents.”