A woman who settled allegations of unregistered trading and illegal distribution with securities regulators earlier this year has now been hit with quasi-criminal charges in a separate case.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced on Monday that Michelle Dunk of Waterloo, Ont. has been charged with alleged breaches of the Securities Act, including one count of trading without registration, one count of trading in securities without a prospectus and one count of violating a cease-trade order.
The OSC alleges that between September 2011 and February 2012, Dunk was involved in the sale and distribution of Hockley Energy securities to investors. The regulator reports that approximately $600,000 was raised from investors; that the company had never filed a prospectus; and that Dunk has never been registered with the OSC. Moreover, she was, and continues to be, subject to a cease-trade order that the OSC imposed in July 2011 prohibiting her from trading in securities.
The allegations, which have not yet been proven, follow an investigation by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT, an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the RCMP and OPP). Dunk is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kitchener, Ont. on Sept. 15.
Dunk, along with others, settled with the OSC in January, admitting to unregistered trading and distributing securities without a prospectus in a different firm, Ground Wealth Inc. (GWI). As part of that deal, Dunk, who was registered as a director, vice president and secretary of GWI, was banned for eight years, ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $50,000, and costs of $7,500. The firm was also ordered to disgorge $1.3 million, along with other sanctions.