The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has ordered a five-year trading and registration ban, along with other sanctions, against a firm and a woman over their role in a gifting scheme.
The OSC handed down sanctions today against Z2A Corp. and Christine Hewitt, who were earlier found to have engaged in unregistered trading and an illegal distribution as part of a gifting scheme. Under the scheme, investors would contribute money to charities and receive shares of a company with a purported value of six to eight times the value of the contribution to the charity. It notes that approximately $2.3 million was raised this way.
The panel found that Hewitt and Z2A provided the shares that were issued to donors under the program and that they were compensated at a high rate for this role. The OSC has called the misconduct in the case “serious”, and said there were no mitigating factors.
As a result, it ordered a five-year ban, an administrative penalty of $15,000, ordered disgorgement of $229,453 (which it says is the amount obtained by them as a result of their non-compliance with Ontario securities law), and costs of $50,000.