Police have charged the former co-owner of a mutual fund dealer with fraud in connection with alleged misappropriation of investor funds.
The RCMP announced today that its Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) in Toronto has charged Marilyn Dianne Stuart, former co-owner of fund dealer W.H. Stuart and Associates, with fraud over $5,000.
“It is alleged that Stuart improperly diverted investor funds,” police said in a statement announcing the charges.
The allegations have not been proven. Stuart is scheduled to appear in court on May 16, at the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ont.
In 2016, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) permanently banned Stuart and fined her $7 million after finding that she violated MFDA rules in connection with a note program that solicited approximately $6 million from more than 180 of the firm’s clients, and failed to repay it.
After the firm went bankrupt, the industry contingency fund, the MFDA Investor Protection Corp., paid out over $6 million in compensation relating to the note program, and over $800,000 relating to other failures.