CALGARY — The Alberta Securities Commission has ordered permanent market access bans against Cem (Jim) Can, Charles Michael Miller and Bluforest Inc. after finding they acted fraudulently in a pump-and-dump stock market manipulation scheme.
In its sanctioning decision, the provincial regulator also ordered the men to pay a total of about $2.67 million in penalties, costs and returns of ill-gotten gains.
An ASC panel ruled last August that Can and Miller engaged in a deliberate fraud, that Bluforest made misrepresentations and that Can illegally distributed securities to Alberta investors while engaging in activities designed to set an artificial price for Bluforest securities.
In its decision, it says the scheme originated in 2010, when Can acquired control over Greenwood Gold Resources Inc., whose shares traded through US OTC Markets Group, then negotiated a framework in 2012 to repurpose it as a carbon-credit marketing company and changed the name.
It says the company became the subject of an orchestrated promotional campaign in mid-2013 in which dozens of stock promoters disseminated material urging immediate purchase of Bluforest shares, resulting in a dramatic increase in trading volumes and price for Bluforest.
The ASC says Can has been ordered to pay a penalty of $750,000, costs of $80,000 and $1.486 million based on amounts he was found to have obtained by his misconduct. Miller is ordered to pay a penalty of $300,000 and costs of $50,000.
“Pump and dump schemes are a deplorable form of securities fraud,” said Cynthia Campbell, ASC director of enforcement, in a news release.
“The significant sanctions ordered against Can, Miller and Bluforest — including permanent bans — reflect the need to protect investors and our capital markets from these scoundrels.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021.
The Canadian Press