B.C. man who convinced couples to invest in fake Magic Johnson speaking event gets lifetime market ban
A convicted Vancouver fraudster who convinced couples to invest in a fake event that purported to have basketball legend Magic Johnson as a speaker has been banned for life from participating in the investment market.
Jeffrey Shaughnessy pleaded guilty in 2022 to the offence of "obtaining credit by false pretence or fraud."
He received a three-month conditional sentence and was ordered to pay back the $29,000 he had fraudulently obtained from the scheme.
A panel of the B.C. Securities Commission decided this week that it would impose a permanent financial markets ban on Shaughnessy, finding him "unfit to participate" in such markets.
The lengthy delay between Shaughnessy's guilty plea and his market ban from the BCSC appears to be at least partially the result of the commission's inability to find him.
According to the panel's sanctions decision, the BCSC's executive director sent documents to Shaughnessy at two different addresses to notify him of the BCSC's application to ban him from the marketplace. Both mailings were returned to the sender, and Shaughnessy did not participate in the hearing about his case.
The executive director applied to the panel seeking additional time to track Shaughnessy down and ensure he received notice of the application, but the panel denied that request, finding that the obligation to notify Shaughnessy had been met by mailing the documents to his last known address.
Shaughnessy's 2022 conviction stemmed from actions he took in 2017. According to the sanctions decision, he convinced two couples to invest in purported efforts to organize an event that would feature Magic Johnson as a speaker and take place in May 2018.
There is no indication in the decision that Johnson was involved in or aware of the fake event.
"Shaughnessy presented the couples with materials related to the proposed event, and the couples invested funds to be used for the event," the decision reads. "Shaughnessy told the couples that they would receive increased returns on their investments and that, if the event did not work out, Shaughnessy would give their investments back."
In fact, the company that Shaughnessy presented as organizing the event had already ceased operation at the time he requested the investments.
One of the couples provided $10,000 and the other provided $19,000. Shaughnessy used the funds for his own purposes, including at a casino, the decision notes.
Though his guilty plea was considered a mitigating factor in the case, Shaughnessy's misconduct was "extremely serious," the panel concluded in its decision.
"He orchestrated a scheme to defraud the investors and used the investors’ money for his personal gain," the decision reads. "By doing so, he demonstrated that he is dishonest and untrustworthy and therefore unfit to be a registrant, director or officer in the capital markets."
The permanent ban prohibits Shaughnessy from serving in any of those roles, as well as from engaging in promotional activities related to the markets. He may only invest his own money through a registered dealer, and only in his personal registered accounts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Loblaw leaders push back on 'misguided criticism' of grocer as boycott begins
Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
There's a limit to how much interest rates in Canada and U.S. can diverge: Macklem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.