A B.C. businessman who used his own newsletter to promote “grossly misleading” reports on penny stocks traded in the U.S. has been fined $4.2 million by the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC).
Abbotsford resident Colin McCabe has also been permanently banned from trading or purchasing securities, the BCSC announced January 5.
A BCSC panel said in its ruling between October 2009 and July 2010 McCabe “wrote and published grossly misleading reports” in a newsletter promoting companies traded on the Over-the-Counter-Bulletin-Board (OTCBB) in the U.S.
“His failure to understand that his actions constituted serious misconduct shows a fundamental lack of judgment which, when combined with the nature of his misconduct, poses a serious risk to investors and our markets,” the BCSC said in its ruling.
The panel also determined McCabe had worked with Erwin Speckert, the managing director of Switzerland-based Everest Asset Management, to conceal secret payments to the Abbotsford man from third parties involved in one of the promotions.
McCabe was ordered to pay the BCSC a $2.7 million fine as well as a $1.5 million administrative penalty.
Speckert, who is a resident of both Switzerland and Ontario, has been banned from trading and purchasing securities.
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