Toronto police have charged a former investment advisor accused of misappropriating over $1 million from clients.
Police said Wednesday that Harold Hee Jeen Ahn, 45, of Markham, Ont. has been charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000, and laundering proceeds of crime. The allegations have not been proven. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 14.
Police allege that Ahn, who was employed as an advisor at Edward Jones, misappropriated funds from two clients to cover the misappropriation of funds from a third client. They say that he transferred the funds by using fake letters of authorization and issuing company cheques in the names of the investors and depositing them into accounts not associated to the investors.
The victims lost in excess of excess of $1.2 million, and that money has not been recovered, police say. Although they note that the victims were compensated by the firm. Police also say they believe there may be more victims.
Ahn has already been disciplined by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), which found that he misappropriated client funds and failed to co-operate with an IIROC investigation after a hearing in 2011. It fined him $1 million, and levied a permanent ban from the industry, along with imposing a $50,000 fine for non-cooperation and $7,000 in costs. (See Investment Executive, IIROC hits ex Edward Jones rep with $1 million fine, June 8, 2011).
The IIROC panel found that Ahn misappropriated $778,000 from an elderly client, and provided her with fictitious account documents; which, it said, violated the public interest. It also found that he violated IIROC rules by not attending an IIROC interview and failing to cooperate with IIROC’s investigation.