West Vancouver lawyer banned from B.C.’s investment market, financial regulator says
A West Vancouver lawyer has been permanently banned from practicing in B.C.’s investment market after allegedly generating over a billion dollars from illegal stock sales in the U.S.
In a news release Tuesday, the B.C. Securities Commission confirmed Frederick Langford Sharp, along with several associates, was named by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a defendant in a 2021 civil complaint in federal court.
According to the SEC judgement, it’s alleged that Sharp was the mastermind of a complex scheme from 2011 to 2019.
The SEC said Sharp and his associates “enabled control persons of penny stock companies, whose stock was publicly traded in the U.S. securities markets, to conceal their control and ownership of huge amounts of penny stock and then surreptitiously dump the stock into the U.S. markets.”
It’s said Sharp used various schemes including using offshore trading platforms, encrypted communications, and an accounting system to keep track of his clients’ stocks.
He allegedly generated over $1 billion in gross proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.
However, Sharp did not participate in the civil proceeding and in May 2022, the court entered a final judgement against him.
Sharp was ordered to pay over $50 million in monetary relief.
The BCSC said Sharp is also facing related criminal charges in U.S. federal court.
He has been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud.
The BCSC said it will be banning Sharp from several acts including trading in or purchasing any securities or derivatives, becoming or acting as a registrant or promoter and engaging in promotional activities on his own behalf.
The BCSC said so far Sharp has not provided any evidence or submissions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Zendaya tennis movie ‘Challengers’ scores at weekend box office
Zendaya and castmates Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino's original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
'Do not consume': Gift Chocolate recalled due to undeclared milk, soy
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
BREAKING Quebec to invest $603 million to protect the French language
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Murder charge laid after man falls to death from Toronto apartment balcony
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on the anniversary of Mussolini's execution
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.