A former financial planner has been charged in an alleged fraud where five victims lost more than $4 million, the RCMP said Thursday.
Police say that an investigation by their Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) found that the accused allegedly approached victims soliciting investments in real estate development projects or online financial counselling services. But, instead of funding those ventures, police claim that the accused converted the victims’ investments to their own use, and that they transferred part of the investors’ money to companies they owned.
The three accused, all from Montreal, face a total of 14 counts. Former planner Daniel L’Heureux, 56, is facing eight charges; five charges have been laid against Claude Lemay, 65; and, Barbara Gagnon-Bernier, 41, has been charged with one count.
The allegations in the case have not been proven. The three were scheduled to appear in court Thursday in Montreal to face the charges.
Back in 2012, at the request of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Bureau de décision et de révision issued freeze and cease trade orders against Lemay and Bernier, among others; and it launched proceedings against L’Heureux and 9248-8543 Québec Inc., operating under the name Nosfinances.com, in connection with alleged illegal distributions. Those allegations have not been proven.