An accountant employed by a former TSX Venture Exchange company has been fined $70,000 and banned from trading securities for 15 years by a British Columbia Securities Commission panel, after violating various securities laws.

Henry Jung, a chartered accountant who contended to be an office manager for Bright Star Ventures Ltd., failed to file insider trading reports for hundreds of trades totaling 5.7 million shares of the company, according to the panel.

The panel also found that Jung illegally traded in and distributed just under $3 million of debentures to 130 investors in seven Canadian provinces.

Jung was also found to have acted as a de facto director and officer for Bright Star, since he made most of the management and operational decisions for the company and was extensively engaged in the issuer’s financing.

“In his submissions, Jung minimizes his role in the debenture distribution, saying that all he did was sign them,” the panel said. “He apparently sees no link between his role in directing the debenture financing and the losses suffered by investors. For these reasons, Jung is not, in our opinion, currently fit to participate in public markets and were he to continue to do so, he would present a risk to investors.”

In addition to the $70,000 administrative penalty, the panel ordered that Jung be prohibited for 15 years from trading securities and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer, registrant or investment fund manager. Jung is also banned from becoming or acting as a registrant, investment fund manager or promoter, engaging in investor relations activities, and acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with the securities market for 15 years.

Bright Star had an office in Vancouver and traded on the TSX Venture Exchange prior to the suspension and eventual delisting of its shares in April 2006.