At the behest of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the Capital Markets Tribunal banned an admitted fraudster — who ran a Ponzi scheme involving an unregistered hedge fund and pleaded guilty in the case, but never turned up for sentencing.
The OSC filed an application for enforcement proceeding against Nathanael Anthony Aikman, seeking an order against him from the tribunal, based on his conviction in 2023 by the Ontario Court of Justice for one count of fraud and one count of trading without registration.
According to the regulator’s filing, Aikman pleaded guilty, and was convicted, in connection with the operation of an unregistered hedge fund, Yonge Street Capital LLC, which allegedly raised approximately $6.3 million from investors between October 2016 and August 2019.
As part of his plea, Aikman admitted that he “falsified his trading performance and returns, paid investors inflated dividends and redemptions that were significantly funded by the investments of others, and ultimately lost and misappropriated approximately $3.9 million in investor funds,” the OSC said.
However, after pleading guilty, Aikman didn’t appear at his sentencing hearing. And, in 2024, he was instead sentenced in absentia to four years in custody for the fraud conviction, along with three months concurrent for the unregistered trading conviction. A $3.9-million restitution order was also imposed on him by the court.
The OSC then sought an order banning Aikman from the markets, without providing him with an opportunity to oppose the proposed ban.
The regulator argued that an order against him was “necessary to restrain potential future misconduct by the respondent that exposes Ontario investors to unacceptable risks and to deter others from engaging in securities misconduct such as the operation of a Ponzi-like scheme.”
Following a written hearing, the tribunal granted the order permanently banning him from trading, becoming registered, and from serving as a director or officer of an issuer.