The Quebec Securities Commission reports that Michel Poirier has pleaded guilty distributing securities without a prospectus and without being registered with the QSC.

On October 15, Judge Michel Parent of the Court of Quebec, Criminal and Penal Division, in Baie-Comeau, ordered Poirier to pay fines totaling $15,000.

Poirier admitted to having assisted Comtech Logiciels and 9066-3477 Quebec Inc. in distributing a form of investment without either company having a prospectus approved by the QSC, and, having carried on business as a securities dealer without being registered. He pleaded guilty to both counts for the prospectus offence, incurring a fine of $5,000 for each count; and he pleaded guilty to four counts of the dealer offense, incurring a fine of $5,000.

Poirier still faces 42 counts in the district of Quebec. He is charged, in particular, with having participated in the distribution of shares in contravention of the Securities Act and having acted as a securities dealer without being duly registered with the QSC. The case will be heard before the Court of Quebec from December 1 to 5.

The QSC says that Poirier, acting through BFM Conseils, offered financial assistance to holders of RRSPs and similar types of registered plans (LIRAs, LIFs or pension funds of an ex-employer) through newspaper ads. The funds collected were then transferred to Comtech Logiciels and 9066-3477 Quebec Inc., which only returned to clients a portion of their investment in the form of a loan.