The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has settled with the wife of a convicted fraudster, banning her from the markets for at least seven years, and ordering $575,000 in monetary sanctions.
The OSC announced today that it has settled with Juliet Winget over her role in the fraud perpetrated by her common-law husband, Arvind Sanmugam, through his firm, Bunting & Waddington Inc. On September 5, 2012, Sanmugam pled guilty to, and was convicted of, three counts of fraud over $5,000 in the Superior Court of Justice. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution of over $1 million.
OSC bans woman for role in investment fraud
According to the settlement released today, while Sanmugam was the directing mind and a de facto director of Bunting & Waddington, Winget, his common-law wife, was the sole registered director of the firm, which held itself out as providing ‘market commentary’ to its clients. However, it says that he actually provided unregistered advice to investors through the firm, causing them to lose about $3.6 million, and made misrepresentations to clients too.
The settlement indicates that Winget opened the bank accounts for Bunting & Waddington and was the sole signatory over those accounts. It also says she received more than $500,000 in transfers into her personal bank account from the firm. And, it says that, as a director of Bunting & Waddington, she allowed its unauthorized trading to take place; thereby violating securities rules too.
To settle the allegations against her, she agreed to a seven year trading and registration ban; the firm is banned permanently; and, Winget is ordered to pay $500,000 in disgorgement, an administrative penalty of $50,000, and costs of $25,000 (and her bans remain in force until those sanctions are paid).