A U.S. woman has agreed to a three-year market ban, and to disgorge the commissions she generated from an illegal distribution, to settle allegations from the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC).

The commission announced that it has settled with a U.S. woman, Sharon Downing, who has never been registered, and admitted that she engaged in an illegal distribution of securities. The settlement indicates that she helped raise $180,000 from three investors for the Global Group of Companies; which raised a total of $11.7 million from investors without filing a prospectus.

Downing agreed to payout the US$3,231 she earned in commissions as a finder for the scheme to the BCSC. And, she is also banned from trading, registration, and engaging in investor relations activities for three years.

The BCSC notes that Downing, who lost $60,000 of her own money to the scheme, acknowledged that she breached registration and prospectus requirements by introducing investors to the Global Group of Companies.