A former rep with Assante Capital Management Ltd. in British Columbia agreed to almost $2.3 million in monetary sanctions, and a permanent ban, after admitting to misappropriating millions from clients.
A hearing panel of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) approved a proposed settlement with Michael Rowland Tomkins, who was an Assante rep based in Nanaimo, B.C., for breaching the self-regulatory organization’s rules by misappropriating clients’ funds.
While the settlement indicates that Tomkins took almost $6 million from five clients between 2007 and 2023, the SRO’s case against him focuses on the period 2019 to 2023, when he admitted to taking about $1.7 million from two of those five clients (of which almost $420,000 was returned to one of the clients).
During that period, that money was taken through a variety of methods “involving the deposits of cheques, bank drafts, and electronic fund transfers,” the settlement said — along with falsified records that were used to deceive both the clients and the firm, including the fabrication of investment vehicles, trades, and portfolio reports.
“The clients were elderly and vulnerable with noted health concerns,” the settlement said, adding the firm is “in the process of investigating the misappropriation of client funds.”
According to the settlement, one of the victims has launched a legal action against both Tomkins and the firm, while four of the five clients have been paid back.
Under the settlement, Tomkins agreed to pay $1.27 million in disgorgement, a $1-million fine, and $10,000 in costs, to resolve the enforcement case against him. He is also permanently banned from the industry.
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