A hearing panel of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) has permanently banned a former mutual fund rep, the self-regulatory organization announced on Monday.

Nathan Eric Breukelman, a former rep with Investors Group Financial Services Inc. in Thunder Bay, Ont., violated MFDA by-laws by misappropriating nearly $30,000  from his former common-law wife, who was also a client, and “flagrantly failing to co-operate with the investigation of the MFDA,” the panel stated in In its reasons for decision dated June 8.

In addition to the ban, the panel fined Breukelman $125,000 and ordered him to pay $7,500 in costs/

The panel accepted  MFDA staff’s allegations as proven, given that Breukelman didn’t participate in the hearing.

“By both his conduct and by his lack of response to the notice of hearing, [Breukelman ] had proven himself, to be ungovernable,” the panel stated.

“Accordingly, the panel believed that both general and specific deterrents must be considered and the penalty must send a clear message to industry members and the public.”