B.C. man fined $4.5 million for defrauding investors

By Staff | August 8, 2018 | Last updated on August 8, 2018
1 min read

A B.C. man who was not registered under the Securities Act has been permanently banned and ordered to pay millions in fines and disgorgement for fraud, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) said Wednesday.

Paul Se Hui Oei was ordered to pay a $4.5 million fine, a BCSC release says. A company he controlled, Canadian Manu Immigration & Financial Services Inc., was fined $1 million. Oei and that company were also ordered to jointly disgorge $3.1 million, which the release says is “the amount of the fraud less the amounts the panel found that the respondents have returned to the investors.”

A BCSC panel found that Oei solicited investors in two startup companies beginning in 2009 but that he didn’t direct all their money to those companies. The panel found that Oei and Canadian Manu misappropriated more than $5 million with respect to 63 investments.

The panel also found that two numbered companies that Oei controlled misappropriated millions more.

Though Oei and the companies he controlled weren’t registered under the Securities Act, Canadian Manu was registered by the Insurance Council of British Columbia, the release says.

Oei is permanently banned from trading or purchasing securities, from acting as an officer or director of any issuer or registrant, and from engaging in any investor relations activities, the release says. The three companies are also permanently prohibited from becoming or acting as a registrant or promoter.

Advisor.ca staff

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.