Two Toronto company directors have been sentenced following guilty pleas in the Ontario Court of Justice for a fraudulent investment scheme.
This case was investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Toronto Integrated Market Enforcement Team. This specialized RCMP-led unit protects the integrity of Canada’s Capital Markets by detecting, investigating and deterring capital market fraud.
Alan Zer and Rony Spektor were each charged with:
- One count of fraud
- One count of proceeds of crime.
These charges were contrary to sections 380(1)(a) and 354(1)(a) of the Criminal Code
The accused were directors were from InvestTech FX, which deceived more than 1,900 investors from around the world, including Canada.
Both accused received sentences that include imprisonment or house arrest, financial penalties, probation and restitution of more than $675,000 to their victims.
They have also been banned for ten years from working in the financial markets industry, under section 380.2 of the Criminal Code.
In sentencing Alan Zer, Mr. Justice Chaffe noted that the accused were involved in “economic violence against both the adults involved and the futures of their children”.
The Judge stated that but for the “very significant and unique circumstances” of the pandemic, Alan Zer would be “serving a penitentiary sentence”.
“The RCMP would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance in this investigation: the Canada Border Services Agency, the Ontario Securities Commission, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Forensic Accounting Management Group (FAMG) and our international partners.
If you have any information about fraudulent investment schemes, money laundering or any other criminality, you can contact your local police, the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, or report anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), at any time.”
This article was originally sourced by www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
