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
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
B.C. man fighting for refund after finding someone living at Whistler vacation rental
Edwin Mostered spent thousands of dollars booking a vacation home in Whistler, B.C., for a group skiing trip earlier this year – or so he thought.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.