The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has charged a couple with alleged quasi-criminal securities law violations.
The OSC announced today that it has charged a Vaughn, Ont. couple, Naida Allarde-Giangrosso and Bernardo Giangrosso, with one count each of trading without registration and one count of trading in securities when they were prohibited from trading by an OSC order.
The charges come in the wake of an investigation by the OSC’s new Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT), and relate to their alleged roles in promoting the sale of syndicated mortgages to investors through a company known as Starboard View Homes, the OSC said.
The allegations have not been proven. Their first court appearance is scheduled to take place January 15, 2014, in Toronto.
Back in January 2013, the OSC banned them both from trading for five years, among other sanctions, after finding that they violated the public interest and breached securities laws by trading without registration, and engaging in an illegal distribution, for their roles in an alleged U.S.-based Ponzi scheme, operating as Gold-Quest International.
Today, Tom Atkinson, director of enforcement at the OSC, said, “Our Joint Serious Offences Team is sending a strong message that the OSC has elevated its efforts to prosecute allegations of quasi-criminal behaviour, including violations of cease trade orders.”
The JSOT was established in May as an enforcement partnership between the OSC and the RCMP’s Financial Crime program that aims to protect investors and enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement.