Regulators in British Columbia are accusing a former mutual fund rep of fraud and unregistered trading after an investor reportedly unlocked her pension and subsequently lost her savings.

The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) has issued a notice of hearing alleging that former mutual fund rep Robert Rush committed fraud when he persuaded an investor to unlock her pension to invest in a forex trading scheme. However, the provincial securities regulator claims that instead of investing the funds as promised, he spent the money. The allegations have not been proven.

According to the BCSC’s notice, Rush told the investor that her funds would be invested in a forex investment offered by Francois Joseph Leon Michaud, who was permanently banned by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) in 2011, and by the BCSC earlier this year (reciprocating the ASC ban). Nevertheless, the BCSC says that the funds were never invested in the forex scheme. Instead, it claims that Rush and his girlfriend spent the money, including for personal expenses.

Not only did the investor lose her funds. The BCSC also says that she was reassessed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a result of the pension unlocking scheme, which resulted in the investor having to remortgage her home.

The notice indicates that Rush wad registered as a mutual fund rep between 2005 and 2007. And, that his firm, Breakthrough Financial, was never registered. It is accusing him of fraud and unregistered trading.

Earlier this year, a hearing panel of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) permanently banned Rush, fined him $90,000 and ordered $10,000 costs after it found that he violated MFDA rules by selling inappropriate securities to clients, and by failing to cooperate with the MFDA’s investigation.

The MFDA found that while he was registered as a rep with Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc., Rush recommended and facilitated the sale of two investments — Gold-Quest International, which was found to be a Ponzi scheme, and The Hear Now, which was an illegal distribution — dealings that were conducted off-book and were prohibited by the dealer. The BCSC notes that Rush is seeking a hearing and review of that decision.

The first appearance in the BCSC’s case against him is set for July 22.