Former advisor sentenced to two years in jail for fraud

A former financial advisor has been ordered to serve two years in jail for fraud and to pay restitution to his former firm, RBC Dominion Securities Inc., which compensated his victims.

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) and the Alberta RCMP said Thursday that former broker Shaun Wayne Howell was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $155,480 in restitution to RBC DS after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud over $5,000.

In 2018, Howell was charged with three counts of fraud and three counts of theft following an investigation by the Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT) — an enforcement partnership between the ASC, RCMP and Alberta Crown Prosecution Service — which alleged that he fraudulently raised approximately $200,000 from six investors.

After he pleaded guilty on the fraud charges, the Crown stayed the theft charges.

In 2016, Howell agreed to a $500,000 penalty, $10,000 in costs, and a permanent ban in a settlement with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), after it found that he misappropriated money from clients and engaged in unapproved personal financial dealings.

According to IIROC’s unpaid fines report, none of the sanctions have been paid.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.