An Alberta court has sentenced a geologist to 27 months in jail for numerous violations of securities laws, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) reports.
The ASC announced that Robert McPherson of Calgary, 70, has been sentenced to two years and three months in jail after being found guilty on 12 counts of breaching Alberta securities laws, including trading without registration; distributing securities without a prospectus or exemption; and breaching an ASC order banning him from trading in securities and acting as an officer and/or director of any issuer.
Back in 2006, the ASC ordered that McPherson be banned for eight years, along with levying an administrative penalty of $20,000 and $10,000 in costs, after it found that he engaged in unregistered trading and illegal distributions in connection with a resource firm that raised about $4 million from investors.
In January 2012, the ASC charged McPherson in provincial court with illegally raising funds for several other resource firms, Alexander Exploration Inc, Hazelwood Energy Ltd. and Tilston Resources Ltd.
In addition to the jail time, the ASC says that provincial court judge Camp also ordered McPherson be permanently banned from trading, registration, relying on exemptions, or acting as an advisor or consultant in the securities market.