A participant in an advance-fee fraud was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation Tuesday, after pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud.
The Ontario Securities Commisison (OSC) said Peter Siklos was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of fraud contrary to the Securities Act before Justice Malcolm McLeod of the Ontario Court of Justice.
The commission reports that Siklos admitted to participating in a fraudulent advance-fee scheme operated through Crown Capital Management Corp. that targeted investors in Canada and the U.S.
The OSC says that Siklos “adopted an alias and used false identification to establish and administer a virtual office and bank accounts for Crown Capital, and to disburse the funds fraudulently obtained from shareholders as part of the scheme.”
Last year, the alleged architect of the scheme, Michael Chomica, was sentenced to two years in jail following his own guilty plea, the OSC notes. (See Investment Executive, OSC bans convicted fraudster, October 4, 2013.)
The case was investigated and prosecuted by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT), which is an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the RCMP Financial Crime program, and the Ontario Provincial Police’s Anti-Rackets Branch.