North Vancouver man gets 3 years in prison for financial crime

North Vancouver provincial court is seen in this photo from North Vancouver RCMP.

A North Vancouver man who stole nearly US$1 million from investors over a 10-year period has been handed a three-year prison sentence, according to B.C.'s financial markets regulator.

Ward Derek Jensen received his sentence in North Vancouver provincial court on Aug. 16, the B.C. Securities Commission said in a statement Wednesday. Jensen had previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000.

He was charged in October 2022 with nine counts of fraud over $5,000 and four counts of using forged documents. Online court records indicate the other charges against him were stayed.

"As part of his sentence, the court ordered US$900,534 in restitution to his victims for their financial losses," the BCSC said in its statement.

The regulator said Jensen stole US$971,586 from nine investors between 2007 and 2017. The thefts occurred "under the pretense of investing the money in a private fund," which was supposedly held at a firm in Chicago and administered through Jensen's B.C. company, Kassel Enterprises.

Neither Jensen nor the company were registered under B.C.’s Securities Act, nor were they exempt from its registration requirement, according to the BCSC.

"Jensen promised investors he could generate annual returns of 14 to 18 per cent on any funds entrusted to him," the regulator said in its statement.

"In reality, he misappropriated investor funds for his personal use and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor funds making bad stock trades through his own personal brokerage account. Jensen concealed his theft and the trading losses he incurred by providing forged monthly statements to his victims showing their investments growing continuously over time."

Jensen's banking records showed he rarely, if ever, had sufficient funds to be able to return his victims' initial investments, let alone any of the gains he claimed, the BCSC said.

"When one victim asked to withdraw some of her money, Jensen lied and said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had frozen the funds in his account," the statement reads.

"As of 2020, Jensen had less than C$50,000 available to repay the victims of his theft."