West Vancouver businessman Shaun Anthony John Pollard has been charged with two offences under B.C.’s Securities Act, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) announced this afternoon.
A bail hearing has already taken place and Pollard was released on $4,000 bail with some conditions. The next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 7 at 9 a.m.
Pollard was the CFO at Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSX-V:WHN) in 2018, when he allegedly committed the offences. Westhaven’s website and Pollard’s LinkedIn profile list him as still being in that role.
Crown counsel allege that Pollard was involved in the crime of tipping, or being in a special relationship with an issuer and informing another person of material non-public information. The second charge that has been approved by the Crown is for recommending someone trade securities while knowing an undisclosed material fact.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
The charges follow an investigation by BCSC’s criminal investigations branch. The BCSC also noted in a press release that they would like to thank the Vancouver Police Department for help with the investigation.
The offences allegedly took place between Sept. 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2018, the BCSC said.
Sept. 1, 2018, was a Saturday. On the Tuesday, Sept. 4, following Labour Day that year, Westhaven’s shares closed at $0.18. By Oct. 31, 2018, the company’s shares had risen to close at $1.07, down from an intraday high of $1.34. Trading volume also spiked during this timeframe.
In September and October 2018, Westhaven released eight press releases, including several with drill results and one that was about a strategic alliance.
Note that a previous version of this story incorrectly said that police had alleged that Westhaven was involved in the crime of tipping, instead of the Crown alleging that it was Pollard. BIV apologizes for the error.
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