B.C. fraudster who lured investors with promise to help homeless fined by securities regulator
A Vancouver woman whose company duped investors by promising big returns on real-estate deals that would house the homeless has been ordered to pay nearly $626,000 after the British Columbia Securities Commission deemed the operation a Ponzi scheme.
The commission found Cherie Evangeline White committed fraud, obstructed justice and illegally sold more than $1 million worth of shares in her company, KingdomInvestments2015 Inc., formerly known as KingdomRealty Inc. and Kingdom Investments Inc.
The company, which White controlled as the owner and chief executive, promised investors financial returns of between 10 and 30 per cent by "fixing and flipping" residential properties at a profit.
Many investors were lured by the prospect of helping to house people facing barriers such as addictions and homelessness, while others were attracted by White's profession of "shared spiritual values" and her "calculated use of faith-related" logos and language, according to the commission.
Instead, White and her company used investor funds to repay earlier investors, which the commission's tribunal determined was "consistent with a Ponzi scheme."
Other investor funds went to repaying a personal loan from White's stepfather, the panel found.
White created a false sense of urgency among investors, "going so far as to accompany one investor to their financial institution in order to facilitate payment … despite attempts by staff at such institution to warn such investor," the three-member panel wrote in its decision on Friday.
All told, White's investors incurred $776,000 in losses as a result of the fraud and the illegal distribution of more than $1.18 million in shares in her company.
She also obstructed justice when she failed to provide documents and information demanded by securities commission staff during a compelled interview, the tribunal ruled.
White and her company "did not co-operate fully in the enforcement process, have shown little to no remorse for their actions or the damages caused by them, and have failed to demonstrate any understanding of their misconduct or its impact," according to the ruling.
In addition to the $625,771 in penalties and reimbursements the commission ordered White to pay, she was also permanently banned from participating in B.C.'s investment market, except as an investor.
Kingdom was likewise permanently prohibited from trading its shares or engaging in any promotional activity.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.