The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced on Thursday that a Kitchener, Ont. woman has been charged with breaching securities laws by trading without registration and trading in violation of a 15-year trading ban that was part of a settlement agreement with the OSC in November 2013.
April Vuong agreed to a 15-year ban, along with various other sanctions including a $300,000 penalty and $5.6 million in disgorgement, after she admitted to violating registration and prospectus requirements.
According to the November 2013 settlement, Vuong admitted to raising $12.4 million from investors in exchange for promissory notes. Approximately $8.0 million of that was repaid to investors, $3.6 million was lost in trading, and almost $700,000 was used for personal expenses.
See: Systematech pair sanctioned by OSC for illegal distributions
In its Thursday announcement, the OSC alleges that, between February 2014 and February 2015, Vuong “attempted to raise investment capital through the distribution of debenture agreements”, which, the OSC says, violates the trading ban.
The latest allegations have not been proven. Vuong is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 20, at the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.
The charges follow an investigation by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT), which is an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the RCMP and the OPP.