A Calgary man has received a two-year conditional sentence from an Ontario judge, after admitting to fraud.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced on Tuesday that Michael Hughes has pled guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 in connection with a scheme uncovered during an investigation of his company, Rivertree Financial Services Corp., by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences team (JSOT).
“Hughes admitted that he agreed to manage investments for a client and then issued false monthly statements indicating the client’s holdings were increasing in value when the client was actually losing money,” the OSC says in a statement.
In total, Hughes’ client lost approximately $126,000. Neither Hughes, nor Rivertree, were registered to advise or trade in securities with the OSC.
Hughes was ordered to serve a conditional sentence of two years less a day by Justice Brent Knazan of the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall in Toronto, the regulator reports.
The conditional sentence includes strict house arrest for 18 months, the OSC says, followed by three years of probation. During his conditional sentence and probation, Hughes will also be required to pay $200 per month in restitution.
Separately, the court issued a restitution order for $104,311.37, and prohibited Hughes from trading securities, and from acting as a director or officer of an issuer, for the duration of his sentence.
The JSOT is an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the RCMP’s Financial Crime program and the OPP’s Anti-Rackets Branch.