A geologist tipped his wife to inside information about the pending acquisition of a junior miner, and she then traded on that information, a hearing panel of the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has ruled.
The BCSC Friday released a decision by a hearing panel, which found that Robert Weicker, who had signed on as a consulting geologist at Geo Minerals Ltd., was in a “special relationship” with the company when he allegedly passed along information regarding the acquisition of the company to his wife. It says that his wife, Amina Weicker, then traded on that information, generating an illicit $40,000 profit.
The panel found that Robert Weicker breached securities laws by disclosing material facts while in a special relationship with an issuer; and, that Amina Weicker violated laws against insider trading by trading on that information.
However, the panel dismissed allegations that Robert Weicker also engaged in illegal insider trading, noting that the allegation was based solely on the fact that the funds she used to buy her shares came from joint accounts. “This, in and of itself, is not sufficient to find that Robert engaged in any transaction with respect to Geo shares during the relevant period,” it found.
Sanctions in the case will be handed down after a further hearing.